'Eureka moment' for Scrabble tournament winner

Harshan Lamabadusuriya (centre) was presented with the trophy from organiser James Burley

A paediatrician who won the UK Open Scrabble Championships has described his excitement after flourishing in the competition.

Harshan Lamabadusuriya, 45, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, won the £500 prize, emerging victorious from 21 of his 27 games.

He said the moment he made the word ''backstory" during a critical game was "like a eureka moment, you just get a rush from it".

The seven-day event at The Holiday Inn, Reading South, was the first UK Open in five years.

It was also the first since the Covid pandemic, and used the updated Collins dictionary, which means words such as fav, bruv, fam, unmute, and zoomers were applicable for the first time.

About 2,066 games took place during the competition, which played host to about 100 players from the UK and abroad.

In his acceptance speech Mr Lamabadusuriya said: "The diversity in this room in terms of age, occupation, country, ethnicity, continents is unbelievable.

"The one thing that we have in common is the love of this wonderful game.

"The one thing that's better than the game is the community. It's an incredible community."

Diana Beasley, 91, was defeated by 11-year-old Jake Haidar during the competition

He told the BBC afterwards: "One of the things I was most proud of was, there was 'ba' on the board and I extended it with all seven tiles on my rack to 'backstory'.

"I was playing an American gentleman and he said 'that's a beautiful word' and actually gave me a high five over the board which was a really nice moment."

He described Scrabble as an "incredibly intellectually stimulating" game which "never gets old".

He said he would probably spend his winnings on Pokemon cards for his seven-year-old son.

Bob Lynn played against Bob Linn - the winner was Bob

Tournament organiser and director James Burley said it was "great to be able to bring people together to play the game they love".

He said: "This game has created a community, lifelong friendships and even marriages.

"It is very important to continue to bring people together over shared passions such as these."

During the tournament one match saw a Bob Lynn from the UK face off against a Bob Linn from the US.

Another head-to-head saw Jake Haidar, 11, beat Diana Beasley, 91.

Ellie Mackin, who uses Braille tiles in her games, received a prize for the highest performance above her start rating, having risen from 28th to 14th place.

Married couple Graham and Helen Harding also took part, and told the BBC how their romance blossomed at a previous tournament.