LAGOS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria has begun an open tournament to select scrabble players who would represent the country at international meets this year, an official said Tuesday.

Coach of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), Anthony Ikolo, said in Abuja that the five-day selection tournament began on Monday in the oil rich city of Port Harcourt and will end on Friday.

He said the tournament, which has the country's top 20 players participating, would help the federation to select only the best.

According to Ikolo, 20 players have been invited for the tournament for preparations of the international competitions, including the Africa Scrabble Championships, Mattel World Scrabble Championships in Britain and Alchemist Cup in Malaysia.

He added that 15 players will be selected for Africa Scrabble Championships, eight players for Mattel World Scrabble Championships and five for the Alchemist Cup.