11yr-old becomes second youngest Octochamp

London, October 14 : An 11-year-old boy Broad Oak, East Sussex, has become the second youngest person to win the Octochamp crown in the 26-year history of the TV programme Countdown.

Kai Laddiman thrashed Richard Pascoe, a market research manager, by 105 points to 55.

The boy, who has been beating his parents and grandparents at Scrabble since the age of six, beat his opponent after spotting the nine-letter word "thirteens" in the last round.

It took him just six seconds to rearrange the anagram "nicejoint" to form the word "injection".

"It felt brilliant to win, it was so amazing. I wasn't expecting to go that far. I thought I could but I didn't think I would," the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

The schoolboy, who wants to be a footballer or an inventor when he grows up, reached the number two position on the series leader board on the back of his victory.

He is now set to participate in the series' final in December.

The youngest person to become an Octochamp to date is Allan Saldanha, who had won the award in 1988 at the age of 10.

ANI