Thulnith de Silva of Richmond College, Galle was crowned as the Sri Lanka Junior National Scrabble Champion of 2023 at the finals of the championship, which concluded on 4 November at the Sasakawa Hall, Colombo 3.

The Sri Lanka Junior National Scrabble Championships 2023 was organised by the Scrabble Federation of Sri Lanka (SFSL) under the guidance of the Ministry of Sports. Director General of Sports Prof. Shemal Fernando was the Chief Guest at the awards ceremony.

At the end of the Zonal Qualifiers held in four regions across the island over the past two months, 40 contestants were selected for the Under 15 age category and 40 contestants under the age of 20 were selected for the Junior National Scrabble Championships. 

Accordingly, at the end of the final nine rounds, Thulnith de Silva, who finished the tournament 7-2 with a margin of +1,208, confirmed his victory by staying 12 points ahead of Hivin Dilmith of Mahinda College, Galle, who emerged as the Runner-Up. Hivin also won the rounds by a ratio of 7-2 by maintaining a gap of +1,196, while Archana Padumadasa of Elizabeth Moir, Colombo secured the third place, having won the rounds 7-2 by keeping a margin of +638.

Dineth Fernando of Nalanda College, Colombo emerged as the Champion of the Under 15 category. Reflecting an outstanding performance throughout the tournament, he was undefeated and triumphed with 9-0 in the final day, maintaining a margin of +1,211. 

Inam Irshad of Gateway College, Rajagiriya who won the rounds 7-2 and maintained a margin of +811 won the second place and Sanuthi Chandrakumar of Elizabeth Moir, Colombo who maintained a margin of +645 by winning the rounds 7-2, was placed third.

Nishanya Gammanpila of Musaeus College, Colombo won both the Best Female Player and the Best Under 18 Player awards as encouragement recognitions while Kaumadee Balasinghe of Girls’ High School, Kandy was recognised as the Best Under 15 Female Player. Pasindu Wijewardena of Louvre College, Pannipitiya was recognised as the Best Under 12 Player of the Junior National Scrabble Championships.

SFSL President Dhammika Withara, SFSL Vice President and Junior National Scrabble Championship Finals Tournament Director Raashid Sudin, SFSL Secretary Ilampoornan Ragpuaran, and Zonal Qualifiers Tournament Director Raditha Dissanayake also participated in the final awards ceremony.