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
21.02.2026
Games
need 40
Peak (games)
Jul to Oct
Peak (games)
Nov to Feb
Peak (games)
Mar to Jun

David Eldar
2163.0066 2229(49)2097(17)

Jakob Teitelbaum
2043.0019 2043(19)

Andrew Fisher
2013.0057 2008(32)2018(25)

Cameron Farlow
1943.00107 1930(66)1956(41)

Edward Okulicz
1940.50119 1911(68)1970(51)

Naween Fernando
1919.0056 1931(39)1907(17)

Peter Kougi
1911.5014 1923(7)1900(7)

Ayorinde Saidu
1904.0047 1919(32)1889(15)

Josh Watt
1871.0026 1871(26)

Esther Perrins
1833.00103 1806(68)1860(35)

Ryan Sutton
1805.5092 1836(68)1775(24)

Joanne Craig
1802.50145 1858(89)1747(56)

Bob Jackman
1802.00161 1807(110)1797(51)

Trevor Halsall
1802.0083 1794(68)1810(15)

Rod Talbot
1765.50168 1746(95)1785(73)

Max Mason
1751.5046 1754(34)1749(12)

Oscar Ivanovski
1741.00121 1728(61)1754(60)

Tony Hunt
1741.00170 1806(92)1676(78)

Adam Kretschmer
1740.5017 1748(6)1733(11)

State Challenge


Residency:
At this stage Ryan Gray represents QLD (60 games as QLD and 8 games as ACT).
At this stage Katie Rowe represents WA (6 games as VIC and 32 games as WA).
At this stage Keri Heart represents NSW (18 games as QLD and 110 games as NSW).

Contender
Q Stat
21.02.2026
Games
need 40
Peak (games)
Jul to Oct
Peak (games)
Nov to Feb
Peak (games)
Mar to Jun
ACT1
John Spaan
1732.0075 1709(34)1755(41)
ACT3
Noel Barrett
1727.0076 1725(52)1729(24)
ACT2
Ronnie Bennett
1727.0082 1759(57)1695(25)
ACT4
John Hamilton
1667.50105 1661(81)1674(24)
ACT5
Tim Reddan
1400.5081 1390(41)1411(40)
ACT6
Lexia Smallwood
1381.0096 1388(26)1374(70)
NSW1
Victor Tung
1732.0043 1704(19)1760(24)
NSW2
John Holgate
1693.00137 1697(69)1689(68)
NSW3
Dianne Brumby
1564.5082 1573(68)1556(14)
NSW4
Garth van Vliet
1561.00119 1608(68)1514(51)
NSW5
Graeme Lock Lee
1543.0051 1495(26)1591(25)
NSW6
Jyoti Chandna
1531.00100 1529(27)1533(73)
QLD1
Carmel Dodd
1691.50178 1673(112)1710(66)
QLD2
Karen Richards
1672.50217 1708(134)1637(83)
QLD3
Sam Amarasinghe
1648.00*0 1648(0)
QLD4
Ryan Anderson
1606.0016 1606(16)
QLD5
Julie Brice
1587.0062 1587(62)
QLD6
Paul Richards
1528.00204 1536(119)1520(85)
SA1
Daniel Piechnick
1734.5047 1712(24)1757(23)
SA2
Tony Miller
1651.5031 1646(24)1657(7)
SA3
Jane Taylor
1625.00142 1693(126)1557(16)
SA4
Antony Kimber
1477.5063 1497(40)1458(23)
SA5
Michael Vnuk
1424.0047 1460(29)1388(18)
SA6
Oliver Jenner-O'Shea
1422.50*5 1326(0)1519(5)
TAS1
Stephen Mooney Purse
1701.5027 1703(18)1700(9)
TAS2
Jon Ford-King
1581.0071 1545(44)1617(27)
TAS3
Martin Rose
1480.5045 1470(26)1491(19)
TAS4
Khen Meerding
1415.5026 1409(4)1422(22)
TAS5
Margaret Webb
1393.0012 1391(4)1395(8)
TAS6
Margaret Griggs
1308.5079 1319(58)1298(21)
VIC1
Nick Ivanovski
1738.0044 1761(26)1715(18)
VIC2
Michael Hornung
1689.50*4 1582(0)1797(4)
VIC3
Geoff Wright
1605.5083 1593(43)1618(40)
VIC4
Nat Podesser
1531.5083 1524(69)1539(14)
VIC5
Chris Scholten
1517.007 1517(7)
VIC6
Ray Alford
1472.5014 1478(7)1467(7)