A SCRABBLE-PLAYING Penarthian is dreaming of championship glory on Channel 4 quiz Countdown.
Tim Reypert, of Byrd Crescent, is on course to be crowned the 2008 series champion after winning eight consecutive rounds of the long-running game show.
But the 32-year-old, who honed his word and number skills as a member of the Penarth Scrabble Club, isn't getting carried away with his success just yet - as he prepares for a quarter final showdown in April.
"It's been amazing really," he said.
"I wasn't expecting to get beyond the first show.
"I went up to the studios in Leeds and just thought I'd film one episode and then be on my way back to Wales.
"But I won, and it's just gone on from there."
Tim, who works part time in Tesco, Penarth, puts his winning run down to countless hours spent at the Penarth Scrabble Club, where he has been a member for ten years.
"I'm the first eight-times winner - or Octochamp' - in the current series, and I think part of that is down to my time at the scrabble club," he added.
"It's given me a wider vocabulary than the other contestants.
"Hopefully I can make the final and win the first prize, which is a set of 25 dictionaries."
Penarth Scrabble Club chairman, Martin Sheehan, said: "Everyone's so proud of Tim.
"He won our league competition last year and since then he seems to have blossomed.
"We're only a small group but we take our scrabble seriously.
"The club's been going for 25 years now and it's nice that Tim has gone on to do well after being a member for so long.
"We're all thrilled for him!"
* Penarth Scrabble Club meet at The Kymin every Monday from 7pm. For information about becoming a member call: 029 2063 9740.
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