'I spent Christmas doing spreadsheets, I love it'

A spreadsheet expert who was crowned one of the best in the world last month is eyeing the number one spot in 2026.

Ha Dang, from Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, represented the UK at the Microsoft Excel World Championships in Las Vegas in December, coming fifth.

He is already in training for this year's event, with the qualifying rounds starting this month.

The 33-year-old, who works at a Leeds firm of stockbrokers, said he spent time over Christmas fine-tuning his skills. He said: "It's about keeping my skills sharp. I don't feel like it's a chore, it's something I love to do. I'm glad to have had the time over Christmas to do it."

Mr Dang, who was crowned UK champion in September, said he was happy to reach the finals at the HyperX Arena in Vegas, having only taken up the e-sport in February.

"It was an amazing experience. I got fifth position, but it was just great to be there. Vegas was grand; everything was extravagant.

"By the time you get to the final 24, the competition is very fierce, because some of the guys have been doing it for years. Just to be able to sit amongst them was a privilege."

More than 250 spreadsheet fans battled it out in knockout stages around the world to make the final 24 in Vegas.

The competition takes the common office spreadsheet tool and turns it into a spectator sport.

Excel spreadsheets are used to create complex games and puzzles, which competitors must solve against the clock, in front of a live audience.

The winners are awarded wrestling-style belts and the top prize money in Vegas was $5,000 (£3,737).

Diarmuid Early, from Ireland, who has been dubbed the LeBron James of Excel spreadsheets, was the overall winner.

After his first year competing, Mr Dang said he had made many friends through Excel and the best thing about the competition was the community involved.

"To be able to find something I can do so well and to find so many people who share the same interest as me, that's the best bit of the journey," he said.

Competitive Excel has been around for about 20 years and is essentially a puzzle-solving competition, thinking logically about how you can create a general solution to a question which is scalable and fast.

There is a story line to go along with the problem, and pressure is added by the process being timed.

It requires a logical and creative thought process.

Historically, the game has been solely maths focused, but there has since been the inclusion of more problem-solving questions like solving a maze, a poker hand or sorting kings and queens and the battles they fought in.

During a game, competitors are given files of jumbled data and scenarios or "cases" that require sorting, based on a question, within the quickest time.

At the start of the first round they are all sent an excel file at the same time and have a 30-minute window to answer as many questions in that file as they can.

There are seven levels of questions that increase in difficulty, along with some bonus questions.

Each question is worth a set amount of points, with harder ones worth more, and whoever gets the most points wins.

In a tie, whoever got there first wins.