op seeds stumble through

All's well that ends well. This is what the title favourites must be making of their shaky performance in the first phase of Autumn Leagues 1 & 2.

Top seed David Delicata dropped three out of ten games on his way to the second phase of both leagues. The reigning six-time National Champion will be called to up his game not only further on in the leagues but even more so when he takes on the world's best players in the World Scrabble Championship in Nairobi between the 8 and 11 November. 

Charles Micallef had an uncertain start in his bid to claim his third consecutive league title this year, dropping two out of six games in Autumn League 1. Third and fourth seeds Moira Fenech and Mario Saliba also gave a jittery performance with the latter losing top spot to Christine Strawbridge and making his route to the semifinal stage narrower and more treacherous as a result. 

Among the lower seeds, Reno Zammit (seen in picture) was arguably the player who registered the smoothest progress, conceding no more losses than he was expected to do at the outset in Autumn League 2 and confirming his overall improvement as a player. Exceeding expectations was Maria Scicluna, who topped her qualifier group ahead of three higher-rated opponents. 

(penned and published by Nicky Vella Laurenti)