KARACHI: Former world youth champion Moiz Baig made his 21st birthday memorable by winning the `premier` division of the Signature ninth ranking scrabble tournament at the Lincoln Corner inside the Liaquat Memorial Library here on Sunday.

This was Moiz`s fourth consecutive victory in the ranking tournaments, a feat previously achieved only by Waseem Khatri. The win took Moiz`s national rating to a career best of 1,589, giving him a clear lead of 90 points at the top, ahead of his mentor Waseem.

Moiz won eight of his nine matches and maintained a spread of 788. Young Shahzaib Khatri was the surprise runner-up with seven wins and a spread of 469 while Waseem Khatri finished third (five wins, spread of 358).

The `Master` category was dominated by youth players with Hassan Bin Arshad clinching the top slot with eight wins and a spread of 427.

Little Saim Waqar was the runner-up with six wins and a spread of 551 while Mustafa Altaf was third with six wins and a spread of 285.

In the `recreational` category, 10-year-old Misbah-urRehman remained unbeaten throughout the day and won 7-0 with a spread of 773. Ahmed Atta was second with 6-1 and a 454 spread while Salim Karim finished third(5-2, spread of429).

The `novice` category was seized by Daniyal Farshori with 6-1 and 631 spread. Waleed Zahid finished second with 6-1 and 607 spread while Hammad Sheikhani was third (6-1, 282).

Faryal Najeeb, the Lincoln Corner coordinator, distributed the prizes among the winners and delighted the crowd by announcing the availability of Lincoln Corner for future scrabble events as well.