Playing in the top division Waseem was pitted against several world champions but surprised everyone with his great strategy and word knowledge.
Waseem had a rough start in the four-day tournament after losing a number of games in the first two days but recovered in time and won 10 of his last 11 games to clinch the third position.Eta Karo of Nigeria won the championship winning 23 of his 31 games while the 2015 World Champion Wellington Jighere was second with a 20-10 record.Waseem won 19 of his games in an extremely tough field.Waseem was also a finalist in the North American Championship last week and is the only player to have finished in the top three in both championships played in USA this month.