Scrabble, with its sometimes aging image in Europe, is a very dynamic sport on the African continent, a breeding ground for high potential. It requires immense capacities of concentration and memorization. With surprising athlete profiles like Henri Engongue, Congolese from Kinshasa. Meet.
With our special correspondent in Yaoundé, Amelie Tulet
In Cergy, in the Parisian suburbs, Henri Engongue is a handler in the building industry. A physical job. Around him, many are unaware of his passion for more than 30 years: the French language and Scrabble, discovered in the neighborhood in Kinshasa. ” Friends had just moved in. I saw them playing Scrabble and I didn’t understand a thing. At school, I was strong in French, everything related to memory, history, geography… I told myself that Scrabble would help me improve my vocabulary. After three, four months, I started beating everyone ! “, he recalls.
Henri Engongue is one of those competitive scrabblers with exceptional memorization skills, which allow him to compete with the computer software created for the discipline. ” Around the years 1995-1997, I had memorized all the eight-letter words. Before checking in the dictionary, people passed by me. I told them if the word existed or not. »
► To read also: Scrabble CAN: at home, Cameroon offers itself a prestigious gold medal
Today, Henri Engongue wakes up with words and spends his free time learning lists by heart. During this CAN in Cameroon, he did not win a medal. But Henri Engongue assures to resume training seriously and is preparing for the 2023 championships.
“I felt the potential of Scrabble development in Africa”
Scrabble CAN in Cameroon: the future of the discipline is in Africa