Charissa Cheng, 16, of Malaysia was crowned Asia Pacific Sudoku Champion 2009 at the 2nd Brand’s Sudoku Challenge held at Vivo City, Singapore, on 23rd August 2009. Charissa walked away with S$10,000 and a Brand’s hamper worth S$ 300 and a trophy.

Malaysians won all three top prizes and the 5th prize. Lim Vee Loon was 1st runner up winning S$ 5,000 and Mohd. Hassin Farhan was 2nd runner up taking home S$ 2,500.

Amanda Kiong of Singapore was placed 4th and Tan Jia Hao of Malaysia was 5th. Gaurav Korde of India was placed 6th. The latter three received S$ 100 each.

62 participants from Singapore, India, Thailand, Philippines, Australia and Malaysia participated in a highly charged-up competition of 5 gruelling rounds. The best puzzlers from these countries were invited to vie for the coveted title.

After the 3rd round, which was an elimination round, 15 participants were selected to play in the 4th round. The top 5 from round 4 were invited to the stage for the Finals. The atmosphere was tense and electric as the participants battled their way to the Finals, leading and lagging through the first three rounds.

BRAND’S Sudoku Challenge, Singapore Open 2009

100 Finalists competed in the Singapore Open at the same venue, earlier in the day. They were the best of the 1000 who were shortlisted from the online competition held on the Stomp website in which about 100,000 Singaporeans participated. Congratulations to the winners, picture below.

Report of the event:

The champion, Charissa started slow and was the 13^th to qualify for round 4. In round 4 & 5 she found her composure and finished first, true to form, (reminiscent of her finish last year; alas, a mistake pushed her to 5^th place). Congratulations on your sweet victory this year.

Rachel Thian, Gaurav Korde, Sarah Jane Cua, Amanda Kiong and Lim Vee Loon were the most consistent, leading the field, in that order, into round 4. Amanda Kiong comfortably retained her 4^th ranking to finish 4^th in the finals.

Gaurav Korde and Lim Vee Loon were tied going into the finals; Vee Loon triumphed and finished as 1^st Runner Up. Congratulations on your steady route to success.

Mohd. Farhan Hassin started slow but caught up in round 2 & 3 and was ranked 8^th in round 4. Like Charissa, he finished well, as 2^nd Runner Up. Congratulations!

Tan Jia Hao was the dark horse among the participants and one of the youngest. From barely qualifying in position 15, he steadily moved through rounds 4 & 5 to finish 5^th. Well done!

Gaurav Korde, one of the top players from India, started very well, along with Sarah, Asian Sudoku Champion 2008, and Rachel, as the top 3, going into round 4. He performed the best of the three, getting a berth in the final five; but having lost the tie to Vee Loon, he was placed 6^th.

The competition format was innovative and challenging. The best of the best from the Asia Pacific meandered through the competition with their ups and downs and finally three with nerves of steel triumphed with three others close on their heels.

Thanks to BRANDs for making this the biggest annual Sudoku event in this region, and also for the Thailand International Open held earlier this year. Kudos to IMSG for a well managed event. We are happy to see the slow but steady growth in popularity of Sudoku in this region.

Arrival

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During

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Singapore Players