2027 AUSTRALIAN MASTERS

Twenty of the top players will play the Australian Masters as a round robin in Somewhere. 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
  • Subperiods are Jul to Oct 2026, Nov to Feb and Mar to Jun 2027.
  • The Qstat: The qualifying statistic is Q = (P1 + P2 + 2 x P3)/4 , which is a weighted average of peak ratings in the three subperiods.
  • Third peak: You cannot earn the peak in the third subperiod until you have played 40 games rated by ASPA in the qualification period.
  • Penalty: If you do not earn a peak in a subperiod , your peak in that subperiod is equal to the last rating minus 200. This may be applied more than once.
  • Incomplete tournament: If you miss a game for any reason other than an assigned bye, you cannot count a peak attained in that tournament for any qualification purposes. Games played will count towards games quotas. Ratings will be calculated as usual, with byes and forfeits not rated.
  • Games: You must have played at least 40 games in the qualifying period.
  • Tie breaker: If two players have the same Q statistic, the one with the greater number of games in the qualification period is ranked higher.

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
20.09.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun

David Eldar 		2081.0019  2081(19)

Edward Okulicz 		2045.0019  2045(19)

Andrew Fisher 		2004.0012  2004(12)

Ayorinde Saidu 		1988.0026  1988(26)

Naween Fernando 		1974.0031  1974(31)

Cameron Farlow 		1956.0069✓ 1956(69)

Esther Perrins 		1880.0037  1880(37)

Peter Kougi 		1862.000 

Joanne Craig 		1855.0045✓ 1855(45)

Trevor Halsall 		1853.0031  1853(31)

Josh Watt 		1832.0026  1832(26)

Dineth Fernando 		1820.0022  1820(22)

Daniel Piechnick 		1810.0012  1810(12)

Victor Tung 		1794.0037  1794(37)

Michael Cameron 		1782.000 

Rod Talbot 		1779.0051✓ 1779(51)

Michael Hornung 		1773.000 

Ryan Sutton 		1770.0019  1770(19)

Max Mason 		1759.0020  1759(20)

State Challenge


Contender		 Q Stat
20.09.2026		 Games
need 40		 Peak (games)
Jul to Oct		 Peak (games)
Nov to Feb		 Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
ACT1
Ronnie Bennett 		1741.0033  1741(33)
ACT2
John Hamilton 		1676.0016  1676(16)
ACT3
John Spaan 		1664.0035  1664(35)
ACT4
Ryan Gray 		1583.0043✓ 1583(43)
ACT5
Tim Reddan 		1400.0064✓ 1400(64)
ACT6
Alex Boiko 		1391.000 
NSW1
John Holgate 		1740.0037  1740(37)
NSW2
Bob Jackman 		1676.0053✓ 1676(53)
NSW3
Noel Barrett 		1665.0044✓ 1665(44)
NSW4
Tony Hunt 		1649.0071✓ 1649(71)
NSW5
Rocky Sharma 		1573.0018  1573(18)
NSW6
Graeme Lock Lee 		1571.007  1571(7)
QLD1
Ryan Anderson 		1677.0030  1677(30)
QLD2
Carmel Dodd 		1666.0061✓ 1666(61)
QLD3
Julie Brice 		1581.0013  1581(13)
QLD4
Karen Richards 		1576.0080✓ 1576(80)
QLD5
Paul Richards 		1539.0093✓ 1539(93)
QLD6
Liz Blanch 		1522.0048✓ 1522(48)
SA1
Adam Kretschmer 		1747.000 
SA2
Malcolm McAnulty 		1603.000 
SA3
Tony Miller 		1568.006  1568(6)
SA4
Jane Taylor 		1546.0051✓ 1546(51)
SA5
Antony Kimber 		1507.0012  1507(12)
SA6
Antonios Syrigos 		1462.000 
TAS1
Stephen Mooney Purse		 1702.0027  1702(27)
TAS2
Jon Ford-King 		1532.0015  1532(15)
TAS3
Martin Rose 		1502.007  1502(7)
TAS4
Margaret Webb 		1455.0021  1455(21)
TAS5
Khen Meerding 		1416.008  1416(8)
TAS6
Margaret Griggs 		1306.007  1306(7)
VIC1
Mythili Rudra 		1729.000 
VIC2
Nick Ivanovski 		1714.0014  1714(14)
VIC3
Oscar Ivanovski 		1694.0020  1694(20)
VIC4
Lindsay Van Niekerk 		1566.006  1566(6)
VIC5
Nat Podesser 		1548.0037  1548(37)
VIC6
Geoff Wright 		1519.0018  1519(18)