Sudoku Event Management organised the first Malaysian Sudoku Competition on Sunday, September 18, 2005. The event was sponsored and co-organised by the YMCA of Kuala Lumpur. The Lemon Tree Caf? provided the refreshments. Being the first such event in Malaysia, in the early days of Malaysian Sudoku, we were pleasantly surprised to have 110 participants and about 50 observers. Sudoku was introduced to Malaysians by articles in The Star on 27th May and 20th June 2005. The Malay Mail and The Star started publishing Sudoku Puzzles from the end of June 2005. The coverage of the event in The Star of 15th Sept.2005, greatly helped in the turnout.

There was a carnival atmosphere in the YMCA grounds as people arrived about 2.00 pm to register for the competition. Many were happy to meet friends who also played Sudoku. By 2.30 pm most of the participants were comfortably seated in the Main Hall and waited in anticipation of a new experience, real-time Sudoku. Prior to this it would have been just solo puzzle solving at home, in a restaurent, in the bus or train, or online with no prizes to be won.

At 3.15 pm, Mr. Bill Sim announced the Start of the competition after briefing the participants on rules. It was quiet all of a sudden and you could only hear the sound of pencil on paper as the participants raced against the clock to solve three puzzles, ?easy, medium and hard? courtesy of Sudokuworks in 90 minutes.

Lo and behold, the first person to finish, Mr. Adrian Wong, walked up to the Scrutineers after about 12 minutes. He had completed three puzzles, easy, medium and hard. Ms Thong May Han and Ms Maybelle Khoo followed up in 17 mins. Soon after that there was a stream of adults and children approaching the scrutineers to hand in their puzzles. 25 of the participants had completed their puzzles within 30 minutes. 78 of the participants submitted all correct entries within the 90 minutes. Click here for Leaderboard

There was a tie for the 2nd and 3rd places and the two had to do a tie-breaker, consisting of one puzzle. The event was a great success and everyone who participated enjoyed a fun afternoon.

Leaderboard:

The event was also featured in The Star (www.thestar.com.my)

?Crazy about Sudoku?? Why not stretch your brain in Malaysia?s first Sudoku competition?? ELIZABETH TAI talks to the brains behind the competition.

On June 20, N. Balasingam?s daughter handed him a copy of StarTwo. His daughter, like him, was an avid puzzle lover, and when she saw a Sudoku puzzle in the pages, she knew he couldn?t resist trying it out.

Try it out he did. Now, Balasingam has to complete one Sudoku puzzle before going to bed. For him, the challenge is to complete the puzzle as fast as he can, and he can?t sleep well until he has reached his targeted time limit. (He adds that some Sudoku puzzles can take hours to solve.)

But that was not the only effect Sudoku had on the events manager who once organised functions like fundraisers. In order to spread the love of the game further, Balasingam formed Sudoku Event Management to promote the game through competitions.

And what better way to promote the game than to organise Malaysia?s first Sudoku competition?
YMCA KL, which had organised the first Scrabble competition in Malaysia, jumped at the idea of sponsoring the first Malaysian Sudoku Competition.

?This is one activity where there?s no reason to say ?it?s too expensive?, ?my English is not good? or ?I?m not active, I have no energy?. And although it?s accessible, it?s not easy,? said Bill Sim, YMCA?s principal and consultant of the Community Care Centre and Youth Activities.

Which is why he thinks that Sudoku is better than the ubiquitous crossword puzzle.
?I can?t introduce crossword puzzles to a Chinese-educated person or someone who is weak in languages or have a limited vocabulary,? said Sim. But since Sudoku deals with numbers, it pretty much has a universal appeal.

They could have run the competition in such a way whereby people can complete the puzzles at home and send in their entries, but Sim felt that having the competition in a ?physical? setting gives people the chance to meet others and to make it a family affair.

?It?s a healthy pastime, especially for youth. It keeps them out of trouble and keeps their brains pumping,? said Sim.
It?s also in line with YMCA?s philosophy of organising activities for the community. (Incidentally, YMCA will be celebrating its 100th anniversary on Oct 29.) Setting up the competition is easy because all they need is paper and pencil.
It is Sim and Balasingam?s hope that the competition will become a monthly affair at the YMCA. They also hope that Malaysian Sudoku players will grow skilled enough for Balasingam to introduce the diabolically difficult Sudoku puzzle, The Dion Cube, in a Sudoku competition one day. But for now, little baby steps, said the two.

The competition is open to people of all ages, with an entry fee of RM5 per person.

The aim of the competition is to solve the Sudoku puzzle as fast as you can. There are three prizes to be won: The first prize is RM500, second prize is RM300, and the third prize is RM200. Winners will also be awarded trophies.

The Sudoku competition will be held this Sunday (Sept 18) from 2.30pm to 5pm at the YMCA KL Hall, 95, Jalan Padang Belia, Kuala Lumpur. There will be a briefing for participants at 2.30pm. Trophies and refreshments are sponsored by The Lemon Tree Cafe. For details, contact Daljit Chelli (03-22741439, ext 122 / e-mail daljit@ymcakl.com).