By Noorsyafiq Nazri
Project Director and Vice President of MASA

Taking into consideration that Sudoku has been an addiction to many students on campus, the Malaysian Students Association (MASA) decided to organize the Sudoku Competition on Wednesday, April 12th 2006. Noorsyafiq Nazri took the responsibility as the Project Director of the event. Initially, there were 18 students registered on-line but only 13 of them did turn up during the competition day. Four contestants signed up just a few minutes before the competition began, who made up a total of 17 contestants for the Sudoku Competition.

All participants were seated on their chairs by 2.40 pm. They calmly waited for the competition to begin. Pencils and erasers were firmly grabbed in hands. After checking the registration list, Noorsyafiq Nazri officially welcomed all the participants to the inaugural Sudoku Competition organized by MASA. He briefed the participants on the rules of competition before the participants started to crack the puzzles at 2.45 pm. All participants were required to solve two puzzles (both easy level) in 30 minutes.

At 2.58 pm, Anthony Piccolo came forward to the judges to submit his puzzles. Two minutes later, Sally Cook handed in her papers followed by Gina Joyce. They all looked very confident with their entries. A few more contestants submitted their puzzles just a couple of minutes before the competition ended at 3.15 pm. About half of the participants were not able to finish both puzzles on time.

There was a 15-minute break before the prize giving ceremony took place at 3.30 pm. The participants were kept in suspense for the results but they tried to calm down by taking some refreshments served on the table. In the meantime, a 12-minute video about Malaysia was presented followed by a video clip of Siti Nurhaliza performing at the Royal Albert Hall London.

At 3.30 pm, the prize giving ceremony took place with Lucky Draw being carried out first. Ten lucky participants won sets of postcards featuring the beauty of Malaysia. Shortly after, all contestants were given certificates of participation by Norasyikin Fadilah. Only three top winners received prizes and they were the first three participants to submit the puzzles with all correct entries. Anthony Piccolo was announced as the champion and he walked away with 20 dollars Starbucks Gift Card. Second place won by Sally Cook and Gina Joyce was in third place.

The Sudoku Competition was a great success since it managed to achieve all the objectives of the event and received positive responses from the students.

There is a huge possibility that MASA will organize the same event in the next semester.

www.stevens.edu/masa

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