Nigeria’s youth captain, Sufiyan Boluwatife, has emerged as the winner of the fifth edition of the Black Knight Closed Scrabble Championship in Ilorin, Kwara State. The one-day tournament featured 22 elite players and culminated in a dramatic final-round battle that saw Boluwatife clinch the title on cumulative points.
Boluwatife, who previously led Team Nigeria at the African Youth Championships in Kenya and represented the nation at the World Youth tournament in Sri Lanka, recorded six wins with a massive spread of +796 points. He narrowly edged out defending champion Olawale Qudus, who also finished with six wins but a lower cumulative of +303 points.
Tournament Final Standings (Top 3)
| Position | Player | Wins | Cumulative Points |
| 1st | Sufiyan Boluwatife | 6 | +796 |
| 2nd | Olawale Qudus | 6 | +303 |
| 3rd | Bashir Aliu | 5 | +412 |
Former national champion Kabiru Olaiya, the organizer of the event, praised the level of competition and emphasized the tournament’s role in grassroots development. Over the past five years, the Black Knight Closed has become a vital pipeline for discovering talent in Kwara State.
“This tournament is my own way of giving back to my constituency,” Olaiya stated. “Young players who have gone on to impress at the world level have been discovered through this tournament, and we hope to get more support to expand it.”
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