The 2008 Sudoku Nationals was held this past weekend in Philadelphia. It came out to be a great event with a total of 728 contestants. The oldest in the field was 88 years old and the youngest was 7 years old. There were three main skill divisions. In addition to that there were also prizes awarded to a variety of age groups.
Advanced
* 1. Wei-Hwa Huang, Mountain View, Calif. ($10,000 prize). He finished the final round in 7 minutes, 39 seconds. Huang has won the annual World Puzzle Championship on four occasions: 1995 and 1997–1999.
* 2. Thomas Snyder, Palo Alto, Calif. ($2,000). He finished in first place last year and went on to his second world-championship win.
* 3. Tammy McLeod, Los Angeles ($400).
Intermediate
* 1. Chris Narrikkattu, New York ($5,000), 9:32.
* 2. Vincent DeLuca, Swarthmore ($1,000).
* 3. Brittnay Guld, Philadelphia ($200).
Beginner
* 1. Lisa J. Haffner, Philadelphia ($3,000), 7:40.
* 2. Lauren Choi, Rockville, Md. ($600).
* 3. Stefanie Jasinski, Philadelphia ($150).
Age categories
These contestants won $50 each for finishing fastest in rounds organized by age:
* 10 and younger: Nicholas Viggiano
* 11-12: Rachael Hart
* 13-14: Davis Borucki
* 15-16: Bryan Goldman
* 17-18: Ira Miller
* 19-20: Nick Groh
* 21-23: Maryann Yin
* 24-26: Andrea Kanner
* 27-29: Thomas Snyder
* 30-32: Jason V. Zufflanieri
* 33-35: Wei-Hwa Huang
* 36-38: Huan Wang
* 39-41: Daria Roccato
* 42-44: Paul Winston
* 45-47: Charles Auguston
* 48-50: Karen Wheeler
* 51-53: Pam Milles
* 54-56: Rick Cain
* 57-59: Shi-Shyan Krueger
* 60-62: Bob Schmidt
* 63-65: Mike Cholod
* 66-68: Carol Peckman
* 69-71: Margaret Goodman
* 72-74: Zizhi Zhu
* 75-77: Malcolm Hayes
* 78-80: Ed Zerah
* 81 and older: Bill Koyler
