Kai, 11, gleans Countdown title

13 October 2008 05:06pm

An 11-year-old boy today became the youngest winner of Countdown's "Octochamp" title in 20 years.

Kai Laddiman from Broad Oak, East Sussex, beat Richard Pascoe, a market research manager from Leeds, by 105 points to 55.

This was his eighth win in a row, earning him the game show's Octochamp crown and making him the second youngest Octochamp in the programme's 26-year history.

The record-holder is Allan Saldanha, who became an Octochamp in 1988 at the age of 10.

Kai trounced his opponent after spotting the nine-letter word "thirteens" in the last round. He then took six seconds to solve the conundrum, rearranging the anagram "nicejoint" to form the word "injection."

He grinned happily, sighed with relief and gave a big thumbs up after winning.

He said: "It felt brilliant to win, it was so amazing. I wasn't expecting to go that far.

"I thought I could but I didn't think I would."

Kai's victory propelled him to the number two position on the series leader board and earnt him a place in the series final in December.

The schoolboy, who wants to be a footballer or an inventor when he grows up, learnt his letters and numbers from watching Countdown at the age of two.

© The Press Association