The Philippines dominated the first Philippine-Pakistan Online Scrabble Showdown over the online game ISC on Sunday.

The Filipinos occupied the top three position and eight of the top 10 finishers in the two-country face-off that feature nine players each.

Lawrence Dave Candia spearheaded the Filipinos with seven wins and two losses against a spread of +517 to top the one-day competition, the first since face-to-face competitions were banned due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Candia of the Cebu Scrabble Association stopped Pakistani Basil Ali Khan in the last round 438-339 to complete his domination of the two-country showdown.

Alexis Joyosa, a Department of Education employee, joined Candia at the top by beating Hassan Hadi Khan, 454-387, and finish the tournament with a similar 7-2 card but a lower spread of +367.

Spread is the total winning or losing margin in a game which serves as a tie breaker in cases of ties.

Reigning Philippine champion Mohammad Bin Abdul Suma finished third after losing to top Pakistani player Daniyal Sanaullah 425-447.

The two actually finished with a similar 6-3 slate but the Manila-based Filipino took the higher spot with a tournament best +575 spread, against the Pakistani’s 228.

University of San Carlos student Louis Drei Candia, brother of Lawrence Dave, took fifth place with a similar card of 6-3 but a much lower spread of +200 after beating Ali Rashid 509-406.

The next five spots were dominated by Filipinos with a single Pakistani on board. Jowar Ayuno led all 5-4 finishers with the best spread of +437, while Melvin Dalangin from Manila finished seventh with +391 spread followed by Pakistani Hammad Hadi Khan with a +319 spread.

Former top Filipino player Odette Rio from Iloilo finished eighth with spread of +301 after losing to Jawed Shamin 353-405 in the last round.

Cebuano John Edward Tabasa completed the top 10 with a 5-4 slate and spread of +54).

Tabasa represented the Philippines to the World Scrabble Championship in 2005 held in England.

Two Pakistanis finished with a similar 5-4 card but lower spreads to settle for 11th and 12th places.

Ahmed Salik took the 11th spot with a minus 11 spread, while Mirza Taha took the lower spot with a minus 65 spread.

Baguio’s Lewrenda Ambler was supposed to join the nine-member Filipino squad but pulled out at the last minute saying she was not ready and will instead cheer for the Philippine team.

The Philippine squad is composed of players from the three main island groups. (PNA)