Sudoku set to go ballistic as Jana crowned queen

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2006

LUCCA, Italy, March 12, 2006 (AFP) — The Sudoku craze added another chapter in its phenomenal development when the gripping number puzzle made its debut as a spectator sport at its inaugural world championships in Italy.

Jana Tylova, a 31-year-old accountant from the Czech Republic, was crowned the queen of Sudoku on Saturday after beating off the challenge of two Americans in a frenetic final round of the two-day event which drew 85 contestants from 22 countries.

But it was the manner of her victory, as she hastily scrawled numbers on a flip chart in front of a room full of tense supporters and spectators, which struck Wayne Gould, the jovial New Zealander known as Suduko's "Guru" since transforming the ancient puzzle into a worldwide craze.

Watching people...