Youngest Othello Winner’s Pilot Held Previous Record

October 18, 2018

Tokyo- The pilot of a flight carrying the 11-year-old Japanese boy who became the youngest winner of the World Othello Championship has surprised passengers by saying that he was the previous youngest holder of the title.

"The previous youngest-age record was 15 years old, which I achieved," the pilot said in an in-flight announcement on Sunday night. The announcement was made shortly before the airplane carrying the boy, Keisuke Fukuchi, who won the 42nd World Othello Championship in Prague in the Czech Republic last week, left Germany to return to Japan.

"My record was broken by a huge margin. This is a remarkable achievement," said the All Nippon Airways pilot, Kunihiko Tanida, 51, in the announcement.

The announcement surprised passengers and caused them to erupt in applause.

Tanida won the sixth World Othello Championship in 1982 and held the youngest-age record until Fukuchi broke it, according to the Japan Othello Association and the airline, a unit of ANA Holdings Inc..

The airline scheduled Tanida for the flight because the Japanese Othello team was due to be aboard.

After hearing the pilot's name, team members first let out a yell of astonishment and applause broke out following the announcement celebrating Fukuchi, according to Japan Othello Association executive Kazuhiro Ishimoto.

A video recorded at that time has attracted a lot of attention on social media. "Tanida was apparently surprised at the great response," Ishimoto said.

"We're delighted to see Tanida's announcement make passengers happy," an All Nippon Airways official said. Jiji Press