2026 AUSTRALIAN MASTERS

Twenty of the top players will play the Australian Masters as a round robin in . 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.

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.




Australian Masters


Contender		 Q Stat
17.05.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun

David Eldar 		2131.0090 2229(49)2097(17)2099(24)

Andrew Fisher 		2015.5088 2008(32)2018(25)2018(31)

Edward Okulicz 		1964.75135 1911(68)1970(59)1989(8)

Cameron Farlow 		1947.00155 1930(66)1956(41)1951(48)
YES
Naween Fernando 		1933.5087 1931(39)1907(17)1948(31)

Peter Kougi 		1911.5014 1923(7)1900(7)

Ayorinde Saidu 		1894.0071 1919(32)1889(15)1884(24)
YES
Esther Perrins 		1856.50127 1806(68)1860(35)1880(24)

Josh Watt 		1831.50*79 1871(26)1671(0)1892(53)
YES
Joanne Craig 		1815.75193 1858(89)1747(56)1829(48)

Trevor Halsall 		1815.50114 1794(68)1810(15)1829(31)

Bob Jackman 		1778.50217 1807(110)1797(59)1755(48)

Ryan Sutton 		1762.25132 1836(68)1777(32)1718(32)

Max Mason 		1749.7598 1754(34)1749(12)1748(52)

Adam Kretschmer 		1748.2587 1748(6)1733(11)1756(70)

Nick Ivanovski 		1741.0074 1761(26)1715(18)1744(30)

Daniel Piechnick 		1739.7577 1712(24)1757(23)1745(30)
YES
Rod Talbot 		1739.75216 1746(95)1785(81)1714(40)
YES
John Spaan 		1739.50115 1709(34)1755(41)1747(40)

State Challenge


Contender		 Q Stat
17.05.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
ACT1
Ronnie Bennett 		1735.00108 1759(57)1695(25)1743(26)
ACT2
Noel Barrett 		1709.00108 1725(52)1729(24)1691(32)
ACT3
John Hamilton 		1667.50106 1661(81)1674(24)
ACT4
Tim Reddan 		1402.7597 1390(41)1411(40)1405(16)
ACT5 YES
Lexia Smallwood 		1301.00143 1388(26)1374(70)1221(47)
ACT6
Caroline Scowcroft 		1299.50184 1306(86)1314(41)1289(57)
NSW1 YES
Victor Tung 		1738.5067 1704(19)1760(24)1745(24)
NSW2
John Holgate 		1733.25177 1697(69)1696(76)1770(32)
NSW3
Tony Hunt 		1702.00222 1806(92)1676(78)1663(52)
NSW4
Graeme Lock Lee 		1572.5083 1495(26)1591(25)1602(32)
NSW5
Dianne Brumby 		1569.75130 1573(68)1556(14)1575(48)
NSW6
Jyoti Chandna 		1538.00124 1529(27)1533(81)1545(16)
QLD1 YES
Carmel Dodd 		1674.75258 1673(112)1710(74)1658(72)
QLD2 YES
Karen Richards 		1657.75323 1708(134)1637(91)1643(98)
QLD3 YES
Paul Richards 		1567.75280 1536(119)1569(93)1583(68)
QLD4
Liz Blanch 		1509.7580 1448(24)1465(32)1563(24)
QLD5
Jane Brown 		1507.2568 1567(44)1484(8)1489(16)
QLD6
Ryan Anderson 		1506.00*16 1606(16)1406(0)
SA1 YES
Jane Taylor 		1612.50216 1693(126)1557(16)1600(74)
SA2
Antony Kimber 		1474.25104 1497(40)1458(23)1471(41)
SA3
Michael Vnuk 		1414.0089 1460(29)1388(18)1404(42)
SA4
Angie Pearse 		1321.00140 1334(47)1240(12)1355(81)
SA5
Francoise Finlayson 		1320.75164 1322(78)1275(17)1343(69)
SA6
Tracey Kneebone 		1303.75142 1303(45)1358(23)1277(74)
TAS1
Stephen Mooney Purse		 1697.2531 1703(18)1700(9)1693(4)
TAS2
Jon Ford-King 		1578.00106 1545(44)1617(27)1575(35)
TAS3
Martin Rose 		1471.2549 1470(26)1491(19)1462(4)
TAS4
Khen Meerding 		1425.2530 1409(4)1422(22)1435(4)
TAS5
Margaret Webb 		1400.0016 1391(4)1395(8)1407(4)
TAS6
Margaret Griggs 		1302.25126 1319(58)1298(21)1296(47)
VIC1
Michael Hornung 		1732.75*12 1582(0)1797(4)1776(8)
VIC2
Oscar Ivanovski 		1728.50179 1728(61)1754(60)1716(58)
VIC3
Geoff Wright 		1607.75118 1593(43)1618(40)1610(35)
VIC4
Nat Podesser 		1531.7597 1524(69)1539(14)1532(14)
VIC5
Ray Alford 		1475.7528 1478(7)1467(7)1479(14)
VIC6
Chris Scholten 		1468.50*15 1517(7)1317(0)1520(8)
Not going: Tony Miller, Julie Brice
Residency:
At this stage Ryan Gray represents QLD (60 games as QLD and 16 games as ACT).
At this stage Keri Heart represents NSW (18 games as QLD and 149 games as NSW).
At this stage Katie Rowe represents WA (6 games as VIC and 70 games as WA).