World Championship held in Ankara with 5 Belgians

World Championship held in Ankara with 5 Belgians 13 November 2025

Belgium sent five representatives to the 47th World Othello Championship this year. After a trip to China last year, the Othello event made its way to Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Last year Belgium stood out for its absence, but this year a full team was present. Many others joined as well, as no fewer than 92 participants from 28 countries were in attendance.

The Belgian team matched its best ever performance with 21 points and a shared seventh place. The best three scores of the Belgian players counted here. Tom Schotte (13th) matched his best performance with 8 out of 13, while both Ralph Reijnders and Nancy Darck set their personal bests, finishing 30th and 50th respectively with seven and six wins. Debutant Wouter Thijs also finished 50th with six points. Few Belgians score six wins on their debut! Unfortunately, Sacha Burnay was unable to win a single game and finished 92nd and last. He was also seeded last and could not cause an upset along the way.

Seiya Kurita from Japan extended his world title in a high-level tournament featuring no fewer than 10 (former) world champions after a 2-0 victory in the final over five-time world champion Yusuke Tanashi.

opening reception

During the opening reception, participants socialized as usual, but for the first time in the history of the World Championship, the draw for the first round was not held. There was still some uncertainty regarding which players would attend.

day one

On the first day, four of the five Belgian participants experienced some disappointment. Only Tom Schotte played among the upper mid-tier, but his strong start (four out of five) was not rewarded. Ralph Reijnders and Nancy Darck were tied for 50th with three points, while Wouter Thijs was only 74th. Sacha Burnay was already alone in last place after seven rounds.

Tom Schotte

round color opponent country score result (shared) place
1 black Demirsoy Burak Nedret TUR 28-36 loss 48
2 black Anezka Semradova CZE 54-10 win 26
3 white Mark Plowman GBR 25-39 win 14
4 white Daniel Rossler DEU 09-55 win 8
5 black Vidar Albrigtsen NOR 36-28 win 6
6 black Katie Pihlajapuro FIN 17-47 loss 12
7 white Félix Juigner SUI 44-20 loss 22

Ralph Reijnders

round color opponent country score result (shared) place
1 white Claus Qvist Jessen DNK 44-20 loss 48
2 black Melisa Doymaz TUR 43-21 win 26
3 white Marc Tastet FRA 38-26 loss 49
4 black Elisabetta Vecchi ITA 21-43 loss 66
5 white Sven Neuheus DEU 18-46 win 51
6 black Vitek Sladek CZE 41-23 win 35
7 white Pal Hammervik Olsen NOR 34-30 loss 50

Nancy Darck

round color opponent country score result (shared) place
1 black David Shaman USA 22-42 loss 48
2 white Ankhabar Ganzes MNG 36-28 loss 71
3 black Misheel Altanshagai MNG 52-12 win 49
4 white Ozgen Gunes Deren TUR 12-52 win 31
5 black Kim Freiburghaus SWE 18-46 loss 51
6 white Khash-Erdene Batsaikhan MNG 41-23 loss 64
7 black Alessandro Oritz AUS 42-22 win 50

Wouter Thijs

round color opponent country score result (shared) place
1 black Takashi Yamakawa JPN 19-45 loss 48
2 white Makoto Kuzuhara JPN 35-29 loss 71
3 black Yun Fan Yang TWN 28-36 loss 81
4 white Misheel Altanshagai MNG 17-47 win 66
5 black Bintsa Andriani FRA 39-25 win 51
6 white Veronica Stenberg SWE 39-25 loss 64
7 black Arvid Kjellberg SWE 30-34 loss 74

Sacha Burnay

round color opponent country score result (shared) place
1 black Elif Tan TUR 14-50 loss 48
2 white Daniel Rossler DEU 55-09 loss 71
3 white Sophie Tastet FRA 49-15 loss 81
4 black Anezka Semradova CZE 29-35 loss 87
5 white Sophie Plowman GBR 51-13 loss 90
6 black Narantuya Erdenebat MNG 10-54 loss 91
7 white Hana Kotinova CZE 47-17 loss 92

 

Everything on day two

A tournament often stands or falls based on good and/or poor performances on both days of the event. The Belgians had learned this lesson and played excellently. Tom Schotte, Ralph Reijnders, and Wouter Thijs won four of their six games. Nancy Darck lost the final round 31-33; otherwise, she would also have achieved four additional victories. A win would have even given Belgium a shared fifth place in the team standings, but shared seventh place is, of course, also fantastic!

Tom Schotte
black
round color opponent country score result (shared) place
8 white Tommaso Foschi ITA 29-35 win 14
9 black Xun Chen CHN 23-41 loss 25
10 white Sven Neuheus DEU 23-41 win 18
11 black Claudio Signorini ITA 43-21 win 12
12 white Takuji Kashiwabara FRA 40-24 loss 20
13 black Youngbum Kim KOR 36-28 win 13

Ralph Reijnders
round color opponent country score result (shared) place
8 black Charinee Mitmean THA 46-18 win 37
9 white Alexandr Melnikov RUS 45-19 loss 50
10 black Jens Aagaard-Hansen DNK 51-13 win 38
11 white Andrey Perelman RUS 17-47 win 28
12 black Mitsuaki Takigawa USA 27-37 loss 39
13 white Yoko Sano USA 24-40 win 30

Nancy Darck
white
round color opponent country score result (shared) place
8 white Mark Plowman GBR 23-41 win 37
9 black Sven Neuhaus DEU 11-53 loss 50
10 white Bintsa Andriani FRA 07-57 win 38
11 black Youngbum Kim KOR 25-39 loss 49
12 white Pin Hsi Lin TWN 27-37 win 39
13 black Carlo Affatigato ESP 31-33 loss 50

Wouter Thijs
white
round color opponent country score result (shared) place
8 white Pin Hsi Lin TWN 37-27 loss 80
9 black Alessandro Ortiz AUS 30-34 loss 85
10 white Sophie Plowman GBR 13-51 win 78
11 black Melisa Doymaz TUR 39-25 win 69
12 white Chinzorig Sashka MNG 11-53 win 60
13 black Khash-Erdene Batsaikhan MNG 37-27 win 50

Sacha Burnay
white
Round color opponent country score result (shared) place
8 white Gunes Dezen Ozgen TUR 11-53 loss 92
9 black Emilia Marie Weirum DNK 49-15 loss 92
10 white Melisa Doymaz TUR 21-43 loss 92
11 black Viktor Emil Snede DNK 54-10 loss 92
12 white Ismail Yalturak TUR 09-55 loss 92
13 black Vitek Sladek CZE 57-07 loss 92

 

Exciting finals

For the Belgians, the tournament was already over, but for a significant number of players, the real work was just beginning:
  • World champion: Yusuke Takanashi (JPN), Seiya Kurita (JPN), Kento Urano (JPN), and Takashi Yamakawa (JPN)
  • World champion juniors: Xuanrui Chen (CHN), Koh Ding Sheng Calvin (SGP), Misheel Altanshagai (MNG), Tommaso Foschi (ITA)
  • World champion women: Miu Hisamatsu (JPN), Katie Pihlajapuro (FIN), Charinee Mitmean (THA), Nalinporn Saprasert (THAI)

Both tournament favorites were not caught off guard in the semifinals. Seiya Kurita and Yusuke Takanashi each defeated their opponents, Kento Urano and Takashi Yamakawa, 2-0. Seiya Kurita repeated this score in the final, defeating his compatriot Yusuke Takanashi 2-0. In the third-place match, Takashi Yamakawa came out on top.

In the juniors, the Mongolian Misheel Altanshagai was removed from the results for cheating with computer assistance. Calvin Koh gave Singapore its first world title in an exciting final against the Chinese Xuanrui Chen. Tommaso Foschi finished impressively in third place.

In the women’s tournament, the Japanese Miu Hisamatsu had a hesitant start but eventually advanced smoothly to the semifinals. There she defeated Charinee Mitmean and former world champion Katie Pihlajapuro on her way to the world title. The Thai Charinee Mitmean defeated her compatriot Nalinporn Saprasert for third place.

All results and reports can be found at the following links: