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Indians throng, but fail to win Spelling Bee

Abraham Thariath
India Abroad Correspondent in New York

Bangalore-born Abhijit Eswarappa, 13, survived seven rounds of spelling such tongue-twisters as "expurgate" and "fimbrillate", but he was waylaid by the word "hyetology" in the eighth round in the 74th annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.

Eswarappa, a seventh grader at White Station Middle School, Memphis, Tennessee, who has lived in the United States for only about three years, had to content with the $250 prize for those who missed in round six to eight.

He participated in the championship as the winner of the Memphis-Shelby County Spelling Bee, sponsored by The Commerical Appeal newspaper. The fifteen-round "miss and out" tournament of champions from May 29 to 31 in Washington, DC, started with a crowded field of 248 area champions from around the US, all of them sponsored by their local newspapers.

These area champions included Neil K Gehlawat, 13, eighth grader at Tevis Junior High School, Bakersfield, California; Ramsudha Narala, 13, eighth grader at Kastner Intermediate School, Fresno, California; Varun Sharma, 13, eighth grader at Dartmouth Middle School, Hemet, California; Mitesh Shridhar, 11, seventh grader at West Middle School, Denver, Colorado; Ramya Tadipatri, 13, seventh grader at Shelton Intermediate School, Shelton, Connecticut; and Anisha Kshetrapal, 13, eighth grader at Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School, Fort Myers, Florida.

Other winners include Mallika Sarah Thampy, 12, seventh grader, home schooling, St Louis, Missouri; Snigdha Sur, 11, fifth grader at Public School 175, New York, New York; Priyanka Saloni Jain, 11, seventh grader at Ottawa Hills Junior High School, Toledo, Ohio; Sarita O Mizin, 14, eighth grader at Lakeland Junior-Senior High School, Scott Township, Pennsylvania; Mohammad M Bader, 12, seventh grader at Crestwood Middle School, Mountaintop, Pennsylvania; Jaydeep K Srimani, 11, sixth grader at R C Edwards Middle School, Central, South Carolina; Vishruth K Reddy, 13, eighth grader at Loftis Middle School, Hixson, Tennessee; Sai Gunturi, 11, sixth grader at Bowman Middle School, Plano, Texas; Chiraag P Alur, 13, seventh grader at Abell Junior High School, Midland, Texas.

Among them, Kshetrapal and Gunturi reached the sixth round, but were eliminated by "therophyte" and "rectirostral", respectively. By the eighth round, in which Eswarappa lost, the field was narrowed to nine. The final five rounds of the fifteen-round contest were a direct tussle between ultimate champion Sean Conley of Anoka, Minnesota, and runner-up Kristin Hawkins of Sterling, Virginia.

Conley won the championship and the $10,000 prize by spelling "gallimaufry" correctly, but Hawkins made a costly error in "resipiscence" and was relegated to second place and awarded $5,000.

Conley was last year's runner-up to then champion George Abraham Thampy, an Indian American and home-schooler. Thampy's sister, Mallika Sarah Thampy, lost in third round this year.

The bee this year was open for students who have not passed beyond eighth grade on February 21, and not reached their 16th birthday on or before the start of the finals on May 29. This year's final participants were aged 10 to 15 and ranged from grade four to eight.

The bee is administered by the E W Scripps Company, a diversified media concern that also runs the Scripps Howard newspaper group. The purpose is to help students improve spelling, increase their vocabulary, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage.

The competition was started in 1925 with nine contestants by the Louisville Courier-Journal and in 1941 Scripps Howard assumed sponsorship. There was no contest during the World War II years of 1943 to 1945.

Earlier Reports:

Nupur Grabs National Spelling Bee With Logorrhea
Indian American wins Spelling Bee again

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