National Spelling Bee Championship in the US

Indian-origin boy wins U.S. spelling championship

Contesting for fourth time, 13-year-old spells ‘guerdon’ to win National Spelling Bee

WASHINGTON: As it turned out, Sameer Mishra provided more than just comic relief at the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee. He ended up winning the title.

The 13-year-old from West Lafayette, of Indian origin, who often had the audience laughing with his one-line commentaries was all business when he aced “guerdon” — a word that appropriately means “something that has different language roots.” Sameer asked for a definition, and then confidently spelled it out correctly to thunderous applause from the audience.

At one point in the contest he asked, “Are you sure there are no alternative pronunciations?” and later uttered “That’s a relief” after initially mishearing the word “numnah” (a sort of sheepskin pad). And what did he have to say while hoisting the heavy trophy? “I’m really, really weak.”

Sameer is coached by his sister, Shruti, a high school senior and three-time spelling bee competitor.

The first-place finish won him $35,000 in cash and more than $5,000 in other prizes.

Sameer beat 288 children in the 8-15 age group. It was a proud moment for the teen, who was in the contest for the fourth time. In 2005 he had taken the 98th position. In 2006, he was 14th, and last year 16th.

His parents and sister stood proudly behind him as he was awarded the coveted trophy. Sameer is a computer and video games enthusiast and hopes to grow up to be a neurosurgeon.

The second place went to another Indian American, 12-year-old Sidharth Chand, a seventh grade student.

In all, four Indian Americans were among the last 12 who qualified for the final. Kavya Shivashankar was tied in the fourth place with four others and Janhnavi Iyer was in the 8th place.

The youngest to qualify to participate in the championship was 8-year-old Indian American Sriram Hathwar.

In 2005, Anurag Kashyap of Indian origin became the champion by spelling “appoggiatura.”

The third place this time went to Tia Thomas, 13, from Coarsegold, California, who was eliminated on “opificer” (a skilled or artistic worker). She started the word with an ‘e’ instead of an ‘o’ and received a standing ovation and a hug from her mother. Tia was one of the favourites, appearing in her fifth and final bee after an eighth-place finish a year ago.

The finals were aired live in prime time on ABC television, and it appeared for a while that the broadcast could run late into the night. Twenty-four of the first 25 words were spelled correctly, with the dictionary-familiar competitors breezing through words such as “brankursine,” “cryptarithm,” and “empyrean” with barely a hitch.

Among the spectators was 94-year-old Frank Neuhauser, the winner of the first national bee in 1925. Asked to spell his winning word from 83 years ago, he rattled off the letters to “gladiolus.”— AP, PTI

source: hindu.com