2026 AUSTRALIAN MASTERS

Twenty of the top players will play the Australian Masters as a round robin in Belconnen (Canberra Labor Club). At the same time, teams of three players from each of seven states or territories play the State Team Challenge as head-to-head matches.
Accommodation on-site is available at the Mercure for $140 per night.

Rule variation

Masters section has 5 point penalty for each word challenged but correct.

The contenders

The table below shows the teams according to qualification criteria set by the Council of the Australian Scrabble Players Association. A player must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Temporary visa holders are not eligible.
IMPORTANT: Selection processes will now give priority to Australian players who have told CASPA that they will attend or might attend. Send an email to barry.harridge@gmail.com with the subject line including AMSC25, and an indication of YES, NO or MAYBE. Any Australian ASPA member may ask to be considered, not just the ones listed as contenders.

Australian Masters

The selection comprises the best twenty active players (those players who have played at least one game during the qualification period) ranked by Q statistic.

State Team Challenge

Each state team will comprise three eligible players who have not already been selected for the Masters event and are the next best three from their state, ranked by Q statistic.
If insufficient eligible players are available … If insufficient eligible players are available, the state will not be permitted to participate in the State Team Challenge for that year unless a maximum of one stand-in can be fielded before the tournament from any state (generally, but not necessarily, that state in which the tournament takes place). That stand-in must also meet the above criteria.
An eligible stand-in may also be fielded in the event of illness or other unforeseen circumstance during the tournament.

Selection by ratings

The primary criterion for ranking candidates is the Q statistic
Details

Players may appeal to CASPA for a special dispensation in exceptional circumstances. In the event of any unforeseen issue the decision of CASPA is final.


Selection has now finished. Paul Richards will be finalising teams.


Australian Masters


Contender		 Q Stat
25.07.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
YES
David Eldar 		2060.50*47✓ 1947(0)2087(7)2104(40)
YES
Andrew Fisher 		1936.75*56✓ 1693(0)2018(25)2018(31)
YES
Edward Okulicz 		1913.50*73✓ 1696(0)1970(49)1994(24)
YES
Cameron Farlow 		1885.25*72✓ 1683(0)1956(16)1951(56)
YES
Esther Perrins 		1816.25*51✓ 1645(0)1860(27)1880(24)
YES
Joanne Craig 		1770.75*88✓ 1678(0)1747(32)1829(56)
YES
Ryan Sutton 		1722.50*55✓ 1595(0)1777(15)1759(40)
YES
Bob Jackman 		1698.75*98✓ 1529(0)1756(42)1755(56)
YES
John Spaan 		1658.25*63✓ 1386(0)1753(16)1747(47)
YES
John Holgate 		1655.75*98✓ 1351(0)1696(42)1788(56)
YES
Rod Talbot 		1650.25*105✓ 1417(0)1756(49)1714(56)
YES
Noel Barrett 		1636.50*47✓ 1442(0)1722(15)1691(32)
YES
Tony Hunt 		1623.00*110✓ 1490(0)1676(54)1663(56)
YES
Carmel Dodd 		1611.75*114✓ 1428(0)1703(42)1658(72)
YES
Karen Richards 		1576.00*180✓ 1381(0)1637(58)1643(122)
YES
Jane Taylor 		1554.25*102✓ 1460(0)1557(6)1600(96)
YES
Paul Richards 		1500.75*151✓ 1268(0)1569(51)1583(100)
YES
Dianne Brumby 		1495.00*70✓ 1274(0)1556(14)1575(56)
YES
Jyoti Chandna 		1491.25*81✓ 1304(0)1533(49)1564(32)

State Challenge


Contender		 Q Stat
25.07.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
ACT1 YES
Tim Reddan 		1343.50*48✓ 1196(0)1368(25)1405(23)
ACT2 YES
Caroline Scowcroft 		1260.00*81✓ 1148(0)1314(16)1289(65)
ACT3 YES
Lexia Smallwood 		1216.25*100✓ 1126(0)1297(41)1221(59)
ACT4
Owen Randall 		1154.25*46✓ 987(0)1274(8)1178(38)
NSW1 YES
Garth van Vliet 		1444.75*71✓ 1355(0)1510(34)1457(37)
NSW2
Greg Pinchbeck 		1416.75*112✓ 1171(0)1482(48)1507(64)
NSW3
Therese Nichols 		1373.25*47✓ 1255(0)1402(23)1418(24)
NSW4
Steven Savona 		1343.50*82✓ 1173(0)1425(42)1388(40)
NSW5
Chris Ostrowski 		1299.25*97✓ 1096(0)1347(49)1377(48)
NSW6
Ivor Zetler 		1296.75*51✓ 1108(0)1343(27)1368(24)
QLD1 YES
Liz Blanch 		1446.00*47✓ 1193(0)1465(8)1563(39)
QLD2 MAYBE
Arnold Appelhof 		1371.50*126✓ 1206(0)1374(31)1453(95)
QLD3
Karrin Henderson 		1312.25*55✓ 1090(0)1417(16)1371(39)
QLD4
Martin Waterworth 		1311.50*55✓ 1201(0)1313(16)1366(39)
QLD5
Olga Visser 		1247.75*130✓ 1081(0)1316(39)1297(91)
QLD6
Kerry Reimers 		1164.00*54✓ 971(0)1227(16)1229(38)
SA1 YES
Angie Pearse 		1268.25*93✓ 1145(0)1218(6)1355(87)
SA2
Rowena Vnuk 		1238.25*53✓ 1070(0)1323(12)1280(41)
SA3 YES
Tracey Kneebone 		1236.75*92✓ 1035(0)1358(12)1277(80)
SA4
Victoria Gates 		1225.00*75✓ 1025(0)1247(6)1314(69)
SA5
Judy Mansfield 		1184.00*107✓ 955(0)1255(12)1263(95)
SA6
Susan Roberts 		1135.75*55✓ 985(0)1152(12)1203(43)
TAS1 YES
Margaret Webb 		1390.25*40✓ 1210(0)1395(4)1478(14)
TAS2 YES
Margaret Bishop 		1178.50*84✓ 1030(0)1236(17)1224(67)
TAS3
Jan Hill 		1158.50*61✓ 1020(0)1198(14)1208(47)
VIC1 YES
Nat Podesser 		1486.50*50✓ 1343(0)1539(14)1532(36)
VIC2 YES
Carol Johnsen 		1432.50*54✓ 1197(0)1477(14)1528(40)
VIC3
Bobby Malela Hutagal		 1351.25*63✓ 1042(0)1457(32)1453(31)
VIC4
Jenny Brysha 		1320.25*62✓ 1177(0)1356(14)1374(48)
VIC5
Rob Hutchinson 		1317.00*72✓ 1149(0)1387(11)1366(61)
VIC6
Barry Harridge 		1287.75*65✓ 1131(0)1352(7)1334(58)
Not going: Peter Kougi, Josh Watt, Max Mason, Daniel Piechnick, Nick Ivanovski, Michael Hornung, Adam Kretschmer, Oscar Ivanovski, Ian Ting, Ronnie Bennett, Geoff Wright, Sally Martin, Jon Ford-King, Graeme Lock Lee, Howard Rayner, Tony Miller, Anne Zion, Dianne Davis, Antony Kimber, Ryan Anderson, Chris Scholten, Ray Alford, Jane Brown, Khen Meerding, Sheryl Davidson, Michael Vnuk, Julie Brice, Francoise Finlayson, Ros Wilkinson, Margaret Griggs, Sandy McConnell
Some worthies played too few games:
Naween Fernando (VIC) 38 games, (R=1948)
Peter Kougi (VIC) 23 games, (R=1862)
Michael Hornung (VIC) 8 games, (R=1773)
Victor Tung (NSW) 31 games, (R=1745)
Mythili Rudra (VIC) 16 games, (R=1729)
Stephen Mooney Purse (TAS) 20 games, (R=1719)
John Hamilton (ACT) 3 games, (R=1682)
Chris Hall (WA) 16 games, (R=1627)
Malcolm McAnulty (SA) 20 games, (R=1603)
Howard Rayner (WA) 14 games, (R=1588)
Tony Miller (SA) 36 games, (R=1551)
Ryan Gray (ACT) 37 games, (R=1530)
Asanka Dissanayake (NSW) 8 games, (R=1526)
Chris Scholten (VIC) 8 games, (R=1520)
Martin Rose (TAS) 36 games, (R=1509)
Rocky Sharma (NSW) 17 games, (R=1477)
Jane Brown (QLD) 16 games, (R=1474)
Gwen Lampre (VIC) 16 games, (R=1469)
Antonios Syrigos (SA) 4 games, (R=1462)
Phillip Hamilton (NSW) 9 games, (R=1461)
Ray Alford (VIC) 21 games, (R=1460)
Ashwin Page (QLD) 32 games, (R=1433)
Rex Shakespeare (VIC) 31 games, (R=1425)
Jegatheva Jegathesan (WA) 21 games, (R=1414)
Kashi Thiris (VIC) 14 games, (R=1411)
Susan Rayner (WA) 14 games, (R=1402)
Peter Shaw (NSW) 18 games, (R=1397)
Ian Tsoi Yin (SA) 27 games, (R=1391)
Khen Meerding (TAS) 33 games, (R=1386)
Kerry Constable (NSW) 8 games, (R=1364)
Tony Williams (ACT) 24 games, (R=1345)
Peter Griffiths (NSW) 9 games, (R=1340)
Shaun Donnelly (VIC) 3 games, (R=1317)
Kris Howat (VIC) 26 games, (R=1303)
Pam Bennett (NSW) 8 games, (R=1301)
Lainie Mercieca (VIC) 15 games, (R=1296)
Louise Love (WA) 22 games, (R=1280)
Roberta Tait (QLD) 8 games, (R=1280)
Glenys Logan (QLD) 16 games, (R=1270)
Teresa Dean (SA) 36 games, (R=1263)
June Valentine (VIC) 15 games, (R=1263)
Yan Rui Ko (QLD) 6 games, (R=1258)
John Salmon (WA) 37 games, (R=1245)
Maureen See (QLD) 8 games, (R=1221)
Sandy McConnell (TAS) 26 games, (R=1217)
Yvette Copley (QLD) 31 games, (R=1208)
Rhonda Reynish (WA) 30 games, (R=1201)
Penny Wells (TAS) 7 games, (R=1190)
Julie Krieg (SA) 14 games, (R=1184)
Wendi Symes (SA) 1 games, (R=1164)
Richard Birch (NSW) 30 games, (R=1142)
Stephen Saunders (ACT) 7 games, (R=1137)
Helen Jones (SA) 8 games, (R=1137)
Vicki Russell (QLD) 7 games, (R=1137)
Pat Hudson (SA) 6 games, (R=1111)
Fiona Braendler (SA) 28 games, (R=1099)
Anne Hough (QLD) 18 games, (R=1088)
Karyn Crease (SA) 31 games, (R=1015)

Residency:
At this stage Ryan Gray (1453.75) should represent QLD (13 games as QLD and 24 games as ACT).
At this stage Katie Rowe (1161.50) should represent WA (0 games as VIC and 68 games as WA).