Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., won the Scripps National Spelling Bee after three days of competition and 18 rounds. Nine finalists were reduced to two, Parikh and 12-year-old Ishaan Gupta from Jersey City, N.J., after each correctly spelled an eighth word. A spell-off followed with both contestants alone on stage, each given 90 seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible. Parikh spelled 32 words compared with Gupta’s 25, ending with “cashaw” and setting a new spell-off record. Parikh received $52,500 and additional prizes including reference works, flight credits, and an astronaut meet-and-greet at Kennedy Space Center. He reported spending about five hours per day on spelling over the past year and planned to focus more on tennis and math competitions.
"After each nailed their eighth respective word, officials carried a sleek silver podium with a buzzer on top onto the stage, prompting huge gasps from the crowd. It was time for a spell-off. "I was not excited at all, because to be honest regular spelling I feel like is a much better show of what spelling is meant to be," Parikh told reporters immediately after his win. "But I accepted the fact that there was going to be a spell-off, I calmed my mind, I got some water and I just tried to take it all in stride and do the best I could.""
"Parikh and Gupta each had 90 seconds at the buzzer, alone on the stage, to spell as many words correctly as possible. Then, after a few minutes of careful counting, judges made it official: Parikh had crushed 32 words to Gupta's 25, ending in "cashaw" (a type of plant) and setting a new spell-off record. "Once I get the word I'm not really nervous anymore, because then it's all in my control," Parikh reflected from center stage at DAR Constitutional Hall, a grand concert hall a stone's throw from the White House."
"Parikh will leave D.C. with $52,500 in cash and a slew of other perks, including hundreds of dollars' worth of reference works, flight credits and an astronaut meet-and-greet at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. He's also coming into some considerable free time: The 8th grader estimates he's spent about five hours a day working on spelling in the past year alone. He's excited to dive deeper into his other hobbies, especially tennis and math competitions."
Read at www.npr.org
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