1st Lebanon Memory Championship 2016
Lebanon’s first national Memory Championship (LMC) took place on the 6th of November 2016 at the Arab University Alumni Center, located at the Lebanese capital Beirut, under the official sponsorship of the Lebanese Minister of Culture Mr. Raymond ARAJI. The competition was held under the direct supervision of the founder of the Arabian Memory Championship and the representative of the World Memory Championship Dr Riadh BENSAOUCHA and the international arbitrator Mr Ahmed Lamine CHALA who was in charge to control the tests during the championship. The LMC was mainly organized and sponsored by “Life Management Center” directed by lawyer Mr Adnan ORABI with the collaboration of the Lebanese Brain Club and the “Mind and Creativity” Association. Mr Fadel Saheb was the executive manager for the event. The board of arbitrators consisted of eleven members, nine of which were Lebanese and two were Algerian (Mr Ahmed Lamine CHALA and Mr Mohamed OJANAH) and was led by the chief of arbitrators Mr Ahmad El HUSSEIN. Prior to the competition, the arbitrators were specially trained by Dr Riadh BENSAOUCHA to conduct the tests according to the highest standards adopted by both the Arabian and the World Memory Championship.
Competitors distribution (17 in total):
- 15 Lebanese and 2 Syrians
- 16 adults and 1 junior
- 10 males and 7 females
- 2 Old Competitors and 15 new Competitors
LMC official detailed test results:
- Random Words test
First : Salem Najjar ( 33 words / 5 minutes ) Second : Reem Orabi ( 28 words / 5 minutes ) Third : Nisrine Nasr ( 28 words / 5 minutes )
- Random Binary Numbers test
First : Bahaa Beainy ( 180 digits / 5 minutes ) Second : Bilal Ghazal ( 150 digits / 5 minutes ) Third : Salem Najjar ( 99 digits / 5 minutes)
- Names and Faces test
First : Manal Akoush ( 23 names / 5 minutes ) Second : Mohamad Berjawi ( 23 names / 5 minutes ) Third : Nisrine Nasr ( 21 names / 5 minutes )
- Random Numbers test
First : Bahaa Beainy ( 160 digits / 15 minutes ) Second : Anisa Beydoun ( 160 digits / 15 minutes ) Third : Salem Najjar ( 132 digits / 15 minutes)
- Speed Numbers test
First : Bahaa Beainy ( 80 digits / 5 minutes ) Second : Bilal Ghazal ( 64 digits / 5 minutes ) Third : Mirna Atieh ( 64 digits / 5 minutes)
- Random Cards test
First : Bilal Ghazal ( 61 cards / 10 minutes ) Second : Bahaa Beainy ( 60 cards / 10 minutes ) Third : Mirna Atieh ( 52 cards / 10 minutes)
- Abstract Images test
First : Bilal Ghazal ( 65 images / 15 minutes ) Second : Salem Najjar ( 65 images / 15 minutes ) Third : Anisa Beydoun ( 50 images / 15 minutes)
- Historic and Future Dates test
First : Bahaa Beainy ( 21 dates / 5 minutes ) Second : Bilal Ghazal ( 12 dates / 5 minutes ) Third : Anisa Beydoun ( 11 dates / 5 minutes)
- Spoken Numbers test
First : Bilal Ghazal ( 11 digits at speed 1 digit / second ) Second : Bahaa Beainy ( 10 digits at speed 1 digit / second ) Third : Nisrine Nasr ( 08 digits at speed 1 digit / second)
- Speed Cards test
First : Bilal Ghazal ( 61 cards / 10 minutes ) Second : Bahaa Beainy ( 60 cards / 10 minutes ) Third : Mirna Atieh ( 52 cards / 10 minutes)
LMC official scores
First Champion : Bahaa Beainy ( 1598 points ) Second Champion : Bilal Ghazal ( 1461 points ) Third Champion : Salem Najjar ( 1348 points)
It is worth noting that before conducting Lebanon’s first Memory Championship 2016,
Lebanon’s rank was 9th position (597 points) compared to other Arab countries that have earlier hosted their respective national memory championships during the last five years. In fact, LMC 2016 scoring results ranked Lebanon directly into the 5th position (1562 points).
The championship was followed by an official celebration held on the 7th of November 2016 at the theater of building D of the Lebanese International University (LIU) during which the final and offcial results were announced by Mr Ahmad El HUSSEIN with the presence of guests of honor: the representative of the World and Arabian Memory Championship Dr Riadh BENSAOUCHA, the representative of LMC Mr Adnan ORABI, the representative of the director of LIU University Mr Awad MERHI, General Manger of MAKHZOUMI Foundation Mr Samer SAFAH, both representatives of “Mind & Creativity Association” Mrs. Afrah NAJJAR and Mrs. Nada ASSAF. Each guest of honor presented a special talk on the occasion.
Afterword, shields of honor were respectively presented to the youngest junior competitor Nour NAJJAR, to Dr. Mirna ATIEH for representing Lebanon and achieving remarkable results during the Arabian Memory Championship held in Algeria on AUG 2016, to Mr Awad MERHI and Mr Samer SAFAH, to Mrs Afrah NAJJAR and Mrs Nada ASSAF. Also, remembrance trophies have been respectively donated to the chief of arbitrators Mr Ahmad El HUSSEIN, to the international arbitrator Mr Ahmed Lamine CHALA, to the Algerian arbitrator Mr Mohamed OJANAH, to all national arbitrators, to the event manager Mr Fadel SAHEB, and finally to the founder of the Arabian Memory Championship Dr Riadh BENSAOUCHA and the organizer of LMC 2016 Mr Adnan ORABI.
Next, the ceremony included a memory mastering show presented on the stage by four competitors. Competitor Zainab ATIEH recited 80 random words. Competitor Salem NAJJAR recounted 160 binary numbers. Competitor Bahaa BEAINY recounted 180 random numbers, and Competitor Manal AKOUSH recited 20 peculiar names for displayed faces respectively.
Last part of the celebration included the distribution of trophies and financial rewards to the first three champions and 33 medals covering 11 tests of the championship to their merited winners. The rewards were sponsored by Life Management Center and presented to the deserved contestants by the guests of honor.
The organizers of Lebanon Memory Championship are looking forward to spread the culture of sharper mamory in the coming years; to conduct championships for adults, Juniors, and kids; to build a strong Lebanese league of memory athletes to better represent Lebanon and register new high scores in future Arabian and International championships.