OXON HILL, Md. — Bruhat Soma was unbeatable before he arrived at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and neither the dictionary, nor his competitors, nor a lightning-round tiebreaker challenged him on the way to victory.
Bruhat spelled 29 words correctly in the tiebreaker, beating Faizan Zaki by nine, to win the title on Thursday night. He receives a trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.
The 12-year-old seventh-grader from Tampa, Florida, had won three consecutive bees before arriving at a convention center outside Washington for the most prestigious spelling competition in the English language.
The bee began with eight finalists, the fewest since 2010, and it was clear from the outset that Scripps was trying to fill the 2-hour broadcast window on Ion, a network owned by the Cincinnati-based media company. There were frequent lenghty commercial breaks that allowed spellers to mill about at the side of the stage, chatting with their coaches, relatives and supporters.
Westminster eighth-grader Aditi Muthukumar, 13, snagged fifth place at the competition, hearing the fateful bell that signaled a misspelled word in the 13th round.
And then bee officials announced it was time for the tiebreaker, known as a “spell-off,” before Bruhat and Faizan were even given a chance to spell against each other in a conventional round.
Bruhat went first, and after he got through 30 words, it appeared it would be impossible to beat. Faizan’s pace was more uneven at the outset. He attempted 25 words but flubbed four of them.
Shortly after Bruat was showered with confetti and handed the trophy, Faizan was in tears at the side of the stage, accepting hugs from other spellers. A few minutes earlier, he had hugged his good friend, Shrey Parikh, after Shrey was eliminated onstage.
After correctly spelling words like “molysite,” “peccant” and “febrifuge,” Aditi misspelled “Lillooet,” which is a Salishan people of the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia.
The word has no known origin, which makes it even more challenging to spell, Aditi told The Denver Post on Thursday night. Word origins allow spellers to use roots and other language rules to determine how a word is spelled.
“I am pretty disappointed, but it’s also freeing to know I did the best that I could,” she said. “I’m so happy I’m back here again and I’ve really improved since last year.”
Head Judge Mary Brooks praised Aditi’s hard work and humility after the bell signaled she was eliminated from the final competition.
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“I can’t imagine all of the wonderful things you’re going to do in your future,” Brooks said.
Aditi said any other students hoping to enter the spelling bee should stick with it and remember that it takes a lot of passion, dedication and hard work.
“A lot of times I felt like giving up, but I’m so glad I preserved through it despite all the obstacles,” she said.
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