One of the matches of the recent Millennium Cup, Ricky Purnomo faced Alexander Gozali in a clash that had one of the most dramatic finishes of the competition. Alex dominated much of the game with three bingos, but Ricky nearly pulled off what would have been one of the most spectacular comebacks in recent memory.

The game began with Alexander’s relentless offense. He landed three bingos, including a crushing SPOTTIES late in the midgame, alongside a punishing AZAN (49) that followed up his setup play AMIA. By the time SPOTTIES hit the board, Alexander had stormed ahead 430–268, holding a mighty 162-point lead.

With his rack CILMNSU and one in the bag, Ricky stared down an endgame puzzle against Alexander’s unseen ?EIJNNRU. Instead of damage control, he chose the spectacular route. Dropping LUNS (16), he drew the miracle tile: the blank.

Alexander replied with JUN (31) to extend his lead to 461, but Ricky instantly slammed down Ch(AZAN)IM for a breathtaking 180 points. With rack points (+8) and the earlier overtime penalty (-10), Ricky’s score should have reached 462–461: a one-point out of nowhere miracle win, achieved without a single bingo.

But fate had one last twist. In the heat of the moment, Ricky dropped the blank tile off the table, wasting precious seconds retrieving it. His overtime penalty climbed by another 10 points, dropping his final tally to a heartbreaking 452–461!

Final Score: Alexander Gozali 461 – Ricky Purnomo 452. For a play by play breakdown of the game, do check out Will Anderson’s video on the game. All tournament results in Singapore, including the Millennium Cup results, can be found at Toucanet.com .