Tabasa shines as UV Green Wizards  keep winning tradition in scrabble

MANILA, Philippines — International player John Edward Tabasa shined brightly as the University of Visayas (UV) Green Wizards kept their winning tradition in the field of scrabble.

Tabasa, former team captain of UV Scrabble Team, delivered a perfect performance on the way to reigning supreme in the professional division of the 3rd Councilor Rey Gealon Open Scrabble Tournament at the Robinsons Galleria Cebu recently.

The 40-year-old Tabasa outsmarted his first 11 opponents with finesse, prompting the event officials to apply “Gibsonizing” after the 11th of a scheduled 16-round tiff.

In sporting parlance, “Gibsonizing” describes a situation in which one player is already guaranteed to win the top prize in a competition and cannot be overtaken.

“Mapasalamaton ko sa kahitas-an ug malipayon nga nahatagan ko’g ing-ani nga higayon nga na-champion gihapon ko pagbalik nako’g apil ko og scrabble tournament,” said Tabasa, the 2005 Philippine scrabble champion that earned him the right to don the country’s tri-colors in the World Scrabble Championships at the Marriott Regent’s Park Hotel in London, England in that same year.

“It’s just a matter of self belief. In the face of our downfalls and losing moments, we must be determined still. Take it as a challenge because lessons will make you wiser,” added the Ormoc City-native Tabasa on sharing the key to his continuing success.

It’s actually a clean sweep by the UV Alumni scrabblers with Joel Toroy, Jowar Ayuno, Tomas Toroy, Dart Eslao, and Lear Jet de la Cruz occupying the second to sixth spots.

The same goes for the Green Wizards in the non-prof/college category. Erstwhile  UV high school skipper King Jos Rydan Relatorres, who is now with the University of Cebu-METC, claimed the first place honors followed by Junmar Amistoso, Bea Datiles, Chrismark Quitara, Christian Alipar, and Marife Gonzales.

“So ecstatic! The results of the tournament manifested that if we do things with love and passion, we simply succeed,” said  Dr. Marsha H. Malbas, head coach of the UV Scrabble Team that is always a force to reckon with in scrabble landscape since its inception in 1997.

Aside from Tabasa, UV also produced Engr. Teodoro Martus, the first Filipino to be crowned as champion in an international tilt. Martus bested close to a hundred participants from all over Asia to snatch the title of the Asian Causeway Scrabble Challenge in Johor Bahru, Malaysia way back in 2008.

Moreover, the UV Green Wizards hold the distinction of being then only team to clinch back-to-back championships in a national competition in both high school and college among its countless accomplishments through the years.