On the 16th of June 2010, Khalil Bassam was crowned the new “Mental Math Champ” of the 8th grade with a perfect score of 10/10 winning over Judy Slim who came in 2nd with an 8/10 and AbdelRahman Kurdi who came in 3rd with a 7/10.
After almost 2 months of qualifying heats, each one of our finalists came victorious from his section. Let’s start with AbdelRahman Kurdi. In the 1st round, AbdelRahman Kurdi won against Sara Alameh then he won against Mohamad Tabsh. In the quarter-finals, he won against Boushra Ammoury. At the semi-final round; he won against Grace Saoud and Dana Shatila insuring his seat in the Final 3.
Now, let me tell you about Judy. In the 1st round, Judy triumphed over Rami Hitti, and then she won against Yara Midani. After that, she won over Ahmad Mahmasani, who was a hard opponent. In the semi-final round, she won against Zeina Jouni, Ali Slim and Ahmad Ammash making her a force not to be reckoned with.
At last, let’s talk about our champ. In the 1st round, Khalil won against Noor Mehio, then Miriam Salloum. In the quarter-finals, he won against Mohamad Shatila then Carla Saab. At the semi-finals, he won against Mostafa Fahmi making him as robust (mentally) as the Egyptian Pyramids.
At the day of the finals, everybody was excited yet nervous, each one of us had a perspective for who would win. However, as the day unfolded, the winner was announced by a whooping and amazing perfect score. The 3 finalists won “Drumbeat” awards. Moreover, the victor won a CD holder, a math book with challenging games in addition to various other games.
It was a fun and remarkable experience nonetheless educational and beneficial. We learned lots of new stuff such as the benefits of Math in our daily lives. Hopefully, we would repeat this amusing experience and see if the Champion will reign for yet another year or a new one will take the crown.
Congrats to Khalil and hard luck for Judy and Abed!
By Rida Farhat
G8B
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