The World Scrabble Championship 2003 was held in the Corus Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The winner was Panupol Sujjayakorn of Thailand.[1]
The format was notably different from previous WSCs. The tournament began with the Australian Draw system, with each player playing sixteen games over two days. On the third day the players played eight games in a King Of the Hill format. After this, the top two players competed in a best-of-five final to decide who would be the seventh World Scrabble Champion.
Prize money started at $17,500 for the winner, with all the top twenty players receiving prizes down to $200.
The winner was Panupol Sujjayakorn of Thailand. This was the first time that a player won the WSC while representing a country for which English is not the first language.
| Position | Name | Country | Win–loss | Spread | Prize (USD) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sujjayakorn, Panupol | Thailand | 18-6 | +1461 | 17,500 | ||
| 2 | Nemitrmansuk, Pakorn | Thailand | 17-7 | +1383 | 8,500 | ||
| 3 | Perry, Andrew | England | 17-7 | +1202 | 4,000 | ||
| 4 | Nyman, Mark | England | 16-8 | +975 | 2,500 | ||
| 5 | Kramer, Jim | United States | 16-8 | +712 | 1,750 | ||
| 6 | Panyasophonlert, Komol | Thailand | 16-8 | +418 | 1,000 | ||
| 7 | Davis, Andrew | England | 16-8 | +188 | 750 | ||
| 8 | Fernando, Naween Tharanga | Sri Lanka | 15-9 | +613 | 600 | ||
| 9 | Allan, Paul | Scotland | 15-9 | +532 | 500 | ||
| 10 | Adamson, Tim | United States | 15-0 | +438 | 400 | ||
| 11 | Helen Gipson | England | 15-9 | +317 | 300 | ||
| 12 | Geary, Jim | United States | 15-9 | +198 | 300 | ||
| 13 | Grant, Jeff | New Zealand | 15-9 | align="right" | -58 | 300 | |
| 14 | Appleby, Phil | England | 14½-9½ | +424 | 300 | ||
| 15 | Litunya, Patrick | Kenya | 14-10 | +1043 | 300 | ||
| 16 | Boys, David | Canada | 14-10 | +843 | 200 | ||
| 17 | Wapnick, Joel | Canada | 14-10 | +690 | 200 | ||
| 18 | Sanni, Moshood Olasunkanmi | Nigeria | 14-10 | +581 | 200 | ||
| 19 | Cleary, Paul Stephen | Australia | 14-10 | +436 | 200 | ||
| 20 | Warner, Howard | New Zealand | 14-10 | +316 | 200 | ||
| 21 | Bhandarkar, Akshay | Bahrain | 14-10 | +315 | |||
| 22 | Asirvatham, Ganesh | Malaysia | 14-10 | +144 | |||
| 23 | Sim, Tony | Singapore | 14-10 | align="right" | -9 | ||
| 24 | Lipton, Bob | United States | 13½-10½ | +541 | |||
| 25 | Carter, Patrick | New Zealand | 13½-10½ | +229 | |||
| 26 | Hersom, Randy | United States | 13-11 | +738 | |||
| 27 | Dennis, Di | England | 13-11 | +537 | |||
| 28 | O'Laughlin, John | United States | 13-1 | +360 | |||
| 29 | Fisher, Andrew | Australia | 13-11 | +286 | |||
| 30 | Kurnia, Andy | Singapore | 13-11 | +270 | |||
| 31 | Linn, Robert | United States | 13-11 | +251 | |||
| 32 | Williams, Gareth | Wales | 13-11 | +132 | |||
| 33 | Delicata, David | Malta | 13-11 | +80 | |||
| 34 | Balogun, Rasheed Olajide | Nigeria | 13-11 | align="right" | -55 | ||
| 35 | Capuno, Leonardo | Philippines | 13-11 | align="right" | -161 | ||
| 36 | Lobo, Ralph | Oman | 13-11 | align="right" | -195 | ||
| 37 | Golding, Andrew | Canada | 13-11 | align="right" | -357 | ||
| 38 | Polatnick, Steve | United States | 12½-11½ | +226 | |||
| 39 | Jackman, Bob | Australia | 12-12 | +666 | |||
| 40 | Placca, Chrys | Ghana | 12-12 | +569 | |||
| 41 | Ikekeregor, Dennis | Nigeria | 12-12 | +515 | |||
| 42 | Willingham, Walker | United States | 12-12 | +248 | |||
| 43 | Iqbal, Wajid | Pakistan | 12-12 | +168 | |||
| 44 | Ndungu, Stanley Njoroge | Kenya | 12-12 | +126 | |||
| 45 | Berofsky, Evan | Canada | 12-12 | +58 | |||
| 46 | Kirk, Terry | England | 12-12 | +11 | |||
| 47 | Khoshnaw, Karl | Kurdistan-Iraq | 12-12 | align="right" | -173 | ||
| 48 | Finley, Peter | England | 12-12 | align="right" | -267 | ||
| 49 | Anthonius, Ferdy | Indonesia | 12-12 | align="right" | -304 | ||
| 50 | Quao, Michael Arthur | Ghana | 12-12 | align="right" | -350 | ||
| 51 | Withers, Ben | United States | 12-12 | align="right" | -757 | ||
| 52 | Hirai, Keiichiro | Japan | 12-12 | align="right" | -794 | ||
| 53 | Hovelmeier, Trevor Mark | South Africa | 11½-12½ | +929 | |||
| 54 | Lam, John | Malaysia | 11½-12½ | +120 | |||
| 55 | Wiegand, David | United States | 11-13 | +367 | |||
| 56 | Pui, Cheng Wui | Malaysia | 11-13 | +198 | |||
| 57 | Chong, Aaron | Malaysia | 11-13 | +30 | |||
| 58 | Mamadou, Wone | Kuwait | 11-13 | align="right" | -209 | ||
| 59 | Chakrabarti, Amit | United States | 11-13 | align="right" | -243 | ||
| 60 | Credo, Ronald | Philippines | 11-13 | align="right" | -257 | ||
| 61 | Hoekstra, Ron | Canada | 11-13 | align="right" | -297 | ||
| 62 | Holden, Stewart | England | 11-13 | align="right" | -328 | ||
| 63 | Lobo, Selwyn | United Arab Emirates | 11-13 | align="right" | -342 | ||
| 64 | Abordo, Chris | Bahrain | 11-13 | align="right" | -453 | ||
| 65 | Lloyd, David | Australia | 11-13 | align="right" | -841 | ||
| 66 | Kenas, Mark | United States | 11-13 | align="right" | -947 | ||
| 67 | Gruzd, Steven | South Africa | 10½-13½ | align="right" | -270 | ||
| 68 | Talosig, Rogelio | New Zealand | 10½-13½ | align="right" | -480 | ||
| 69 | Kamath, Pramit | India | 10½-13½ | align="right" | -698 | ||
| 70 | Gongolo, Michael | Kenya | 10-14 | +675 | |||
| 71 | Kantimathi, Sam | United States | 10-14 | +89 | |||
| 72 | Baker, Rich | United States | 10-14 | align="right" | -92 | ||
| 73 | Saldanha, Dean | Canada | 10-14 | align="right" | -272 | ||
| 74 | Recedes, Mario | Philippines | 10-14 | align="right" | -467 | ||
| 75 | Gonzalez, Ricardo V | Gulf Champion | 10-14 | align="right" | -469 | ||
| 76 | Manase, Joshua Otieno | Kenya | 10-14 | align="right" | -542 | ||
| 77 | Kpentey, Bennet | Ghana | 9½-14½ | align="right" | -449 | ||
| 78 | Kalumba, Paul Yandisha | Zambia | 9-15 | align="right" | -45 | ||
| 79 | John, Robin K.T. | Trinidad and Tobago | 9-15 | align="right" | -125 | ||
| 80 | Wanniarachchi, Lakshan | Sri Lanka | 9-15 | align="right" | -232 | ||
| 81 | Chicoine, Emanuel | Canada | 9-15 | align="right" | -468 | ||
| 82 | Abela, Kevin | Malta | 9-15 | align="right" | -844 | ||
| 83 | Chishty, Ishtiaq | Saudi Arabia | 9-15 | align="right" | -958 | ||
| 84 | Kuroda, Kunihiko | Japan | 8-16 | align="right" | -1201 | ||
| 85 | Sandu, Dan Laurentiu | Romania | 8-16 | align="right" | -651 | ||
| 86 | Abordo, Ferrer | Bahrain | 8-16 | align="right" | -799 | ||
| 87 | Bohbot, Herve | France | 8-16 | align="right" | -844 | ||
| 88 | Saeyorn, Sivanesan | Sri Lanka | 8-16 | align="right" | -989 | ||
| 89 | Esmail, Mushtak | Tanzania | 7½-16½ | align="right" | -190 | ||
| 90 | Kenny, Bronagh | Ireland | 2-22 | align="right" | -3166 |