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
11.05.2026		 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 		2015.0081 2008(32)2018(25)2017(24)

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

Cameron Farlow 		1947.00147 1930(66)1956(41)1951(40)
YES
Naween Fernando 		1914.0080 1931(39)1907(17)1909(24)

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)

Anand Bharadwaj 		1782.00**0 1782(0)1782(0)

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 		1748.2579 1748(6)1733(11)1756(62)

Nick Ivanovski 		1741.0074 1761(26)1715(18)1744(30)
YES
Rod Talbot 		1739.75216 1746(95)1785(81)1714(40)
YES
John Spaan 		1739.50107 1709(34)1755(41)1747(32)

State Challenge


Contender		 Q Stat
11.05.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
ACT1
Ronnie Bennett 		1735.00106 1759(57)1695(25)1743(24)
ACT2
Richard Jeremy 		1734.00**0 1734(0)1734(0)
ACT3
Noel Barrett 		1709.00108 1725(52)1729(24)1691(32)
ACT4
John Hamilton 		1667.50106 1661(81)1674(24)
ACT5
Tim Reddan 		1402.7589 1390(41)1411(40)1405(8)
ACT6
Alex Boiko 		1377.7562 1407(33)1322(5)1391(24)
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 		1702.00214 1806(92)1676(78)1663(44)
NSW4
Michael McKenna 		1588.00**0 1588(0)1588(0)
NSW5
Graeme Lock Lee 		1572.5083 1495(26)1591(25)1602(32)
NSW6
Dianne Brumby 		1569.75130 1573(68)1556(14)1575(48)
QLD1 YES
Carmel Dodd 		1674.75250 1673(112)1710(74)1658(64)
QLD2 YES
Karen Richards 		1640.25315 1708(134)1637(91)1608(90)
QLD3
Kristian Saether 		1611.00**0 1611(0)1611(0)
QLD4 YES
Paul Richards 		1554.25272 1536(119)1569(93)1556(60)
QLD5
Ron Baginski 		1552.00**0 1552(0)1552(0)
QLD6
Liz Blanch 		1509.7572 1448(24)1465(32)1563(16)
SA1
Daniel Piechnick 		1726.7569 1712(24)1757(23)1719(22)
SA2 YES
Jane Taylor 		1612.50216 1693(126)1557(16)1600(74)
SA3
Trevor Tao 		1459.00**0 1459(0)1459(0)
SA4
Antony Kimber 		1439.7596 1497(40)1458(23)1402(33)
SA5
Oliver Jenner-O'Shea		 1422.50*5 1326(0)1519(5)
SA6
Michael Vnuk 		1414.0081 1460(29)1388(18)1404(34)
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*8 1582(0)1797(4)1776(4)
VIC2
Oscar Ivanovski 		1728.50172 1728(61)1754(60)1716(51)
VIC3
Geoff Wright 		1607.75111 1593(43)1618(40)1610(28)
VIC4
Mythili Rudra 		1546.00**0 1546(0)1546(0)
VIC5
Nat Podesser 		1531.7590 1524(69)1539(14)1532(7)
VIC6
Jimmy Scarff 		1491.00**0 1491(0)1491(0)
Not going: Tony Miller, Julie Brice
Residency:
At this stage Katie Rowe represents WA (6 games as VIC and 70 games as WA).
At this stage Ryan Gray represents QLD (60 games as QLD and 8 games as ACT).
At this stage Keri Heart represents NSW (18 games as QLD and 149 games as NSW).