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
01.07.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
YES
David Eldar 		2133.50106✓ 2229(49)2097(17)2104(40)
YES
Andrew Fisher 		2015.5088✓ 2008(32)2018(25)2018(31)
YES
Edward Okulicz 		1967.25151✓ 1911(68)1970(59)1994(24)
YES
Cameron Farlow 		1947.00155✓ 1930(66)1956(41)1951(48)
YES
Naween Fernando 		1933.5087✓ 1931(39)1907(17)1948(31)
YES
Esther Perrins 		1856.50127✓ 1806(68)1860(35)1880(24)
YES
Joanne Craig 		1815.75201✓ 1858(89)1747(56)1829(56)
YES
Trevor Halsall 		1815.50136✓ 1794(68)1810(15)1829(53)
YES
Ryan Sutton 		1782.75140✓ 1836(68)1777(32)1759(40)
YES
Bob Jackman 		1778.50225✓ 1807(110)1797(59)1755(56)
YES
John Holgate 		1742.25201✓ 1697(69)1696(76)1788(56)
YES
Rod Talbot 		1739.75232✓ 1746(95)1785(81)1714(56)
YES
John Spaan 		1739.50122✓ 1709(34)1755(41)1747(47)
YES
Victor Tung 		1738.5067✓ 1704(19)1760(24)1745(24)
YES
Stephen Mooney Purse		 1710.2543✓ 1703(18)1700(9)1719(16)
YES
Noel Barrett 		1709.00108✓ 1725(52)1729(24)1691(32)
YES
Tony Hunt 		1702.00226✓ 1806(92)1676(78)1663(56)
YES
Carmel Dodd 		1674.75258✓ 1673(112)1710(74)1658(72)
YES
Karen Richards 		1657.75339✓ 1708(134)1637(91)1643(114)

State Challenge


Contender		 Q Stat
01.07.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
ACT1 MAYBE
John Hamilton 		1577.75*108✓ 1661(81)1674(24)1488(3)
ACT2 YES
Ryan Gray 		1503.5084✓ 1405(24)1523(44)1543(16)
ACT3 YES
Tim Reddan 		1402.75104✓ 1390(41)1411(40)1405(23)
ACT4 YES
Lexia Smallwood 		1301.00155✓ 1388(26)1374(70)1221(59)
ACT5 YES
Caroline Scowcroft 		1299.50192✓ 1306(86)1314(41)1289(65)
ACT6
Owen Randall 		1214.7593✓ 1229(23)1274(32)1178(38)
NSW1 YES
Dianne Brumby 		1569.75138✓ 1573(68)1556(14)1575(56)
NSW2 YES
Jyoti Chandna 		1547.50140✓ 1529(27)1533(81)1564(32)
NSW3 YES
Garth van Vliet 		1509.00156✓ 1608(68)1514(51)1457(37)
NSW4
Greg Pinchbeck 		1488.00264✓ 1453(120)1485(80)1507(64)
NSW5
Steven Savona 		1417.75147✓ 1460(57)1435(50)1388(40)
NSW6
Therese Nichols 		1374.00*54✓ 1255(0)1405(30)1418(24)
QLD1 YES
Paul Richards 		1567.75304✓ 1536(119)1569(93)1583(92)
QLD2 YES
Liz Blanch 		1509.7587✓ 1448(24)1465(32)1563(31)
QLD3 MAYBE
Arnold Appelhof 		1427.50241✓ 1423(91)1381(63)1453(87)
QLD4 YES
Ashwin Page 		1398.5091✓ 1372(42)1356(33)1433(16)
QLD5
Karrin Henderson 		1396.50148✓ 1447(84)1423(33)1358(31)
QLD6
Martin Waterworth 		1386.00130✓ 1432(68)1380(23)1366(39)
SA1 YES
Jane Taylor 		1612.50238✓ 1693(126)1557(16)1600(96)
SA2 YES
Angie Pearse 		1321.00146✓ 1334(47)1240(12)1355(87)
SA3 YES
Tracey Kneebone 		1303.75148✓ 1303(45)1358(23)1277(80)
SA4
Rowena Vnuk 		1298.0088✓ 1309(29)1323(18)1280(41)
SA6
Victoria Gates 		1276.2581✓ 1230(6)1247(6)1314(69)
SA5
Judy Mansfield 		1276.25186✓ 1308(68)1271(23)1263(95)
TAS1 YES
Martin Rose 		1494.7567✓ 1470(26)1491(19)1509(22)
TAS2 YES
Margaret Webb 		1435.5040✓ 1391(4)1395(8)1478(14)
TAS3 YES
Margaret Bishop 		1220.75175✓ 1199(84)1236(24)1224(67)
TAS4
Jan Hill 		1216.25125✓ 1251(58)1198(20)1208(47)
TAS5
Pam Thomas 		1056.0042✓ 1041(22)1061(8)1061(12)
VIC1 YES
Nat Podesser 		1531.75119✓ 1524(69)1539(14)1532(36)
VIC2 YES
Carol Johnsen 		1489.50137✓ 1425(73)1477(24)1528(40)
VIC3 YES
Rex Shakespeare 		1434.0066✓ 1378(25)1424(17)1467(24)
VIC4
Bobby Malela Hutagal		 1425.50146✓ 1339(64)1457(51)1453(31)
VIC5
Jenny Brysha 		1389.50134✓ 1425(52)1385(34)1374(48)
VIC6
Rob Hutchinson 		1387.25145✓ 1410(64)1407(20)1366(61)
Not going: Peter Kougi, Josh Watt, Max Mason, Adam Kretschmer, Daniel Piechnick, Nick Ivanovski, Ronnie Bennett, Michael Hornung, Oscar Ivanovski, Ian Ting, Tony Miller, Sally Martin, Geoff Wright, Jon Ford-King, Graeme Lock Lee, Anne Zion, Howard Rayner, Jane Brown, Antony Kimber, Ray Alford, Chris Scholten, Dianne Davis, Ryan Anderson, Julie Brice, Khen Meerding, Michael Vnuk, Sheryl Davidson, Francoise Finlayson, Margaret Griggs, Ros Wilkinson, Sandy McConnell
Some worthies played too few games:
Peter Kougi (VIC) 30 games, (R=1862)
Michael Hornung (VIC) 12 games, (R=1773)
Mythili Rudra (VIC) 16 games, (R=1729)
Chris Hall (WA) 16 games, (R=1627)
Ryan Anderson (QLD) 16 games, (R=1606)
Malcolm McAnulty (SA) 20 games, (R=1603)
Howard Rayner (WA) 28 games, (R=1588)
Asanka Dissanayake (NSW) 8 games, (R=1526)
Chris Scholten (VIC) 15 games, (R=1520)
Guy Newsham (QLD) 8 games, (R=1482)
Gwen Lampre (VIC) 22 games, (R=1469)
Antonios Syrigos (SA) 4 games, (R=1462)
Phillip Hamilton (NSW) 9 games, (R=1461)
Ray Alford (VIC) 28 games, (R=1460)
Helen Hynes (QLD) 7 games, (R=1434)
Jegatheva Jegathesan (WA) 28 games, (R=1414)
Susan Rayner (WA) 14 games, (R=1402)
Peter Shaw (NSW) 36 games, (R=1397)
Ian Tsoi Yin (SA) 33 games, (R=1391)
Edie Mueller (WA) 21 games, (R=1373)
Faye Williams (WA) 28 games, (R=1365)
Kerry Constable (NSW) 8 games, (R=1364)
Tony Williams (ACT) 24 games, (R=1345)
Neil McLean (VIC) 8 games, (R=1344)
Lainie Mercieca (VIC) 39 games, (R=1296)
Roberta Tait (QLD) 24 games, (R=1280)
Anne Stewart (WA) 34 games, (R=1192)
Penny Wells (TAS) 19 games, (R=1190)
Bernadette Donehue (TAS) 5 games, (R=1122)
Betty Smith (TAS) 22 games, (R=1113)

Residency:
At this stage Ryan Gray (1503.50) should represent QLD (60 games as QLD and 24 games as ACT).
At this stage Katie Rowe (1209.00) should represent VIC (6 games as VIC and 86 games as WA).