Chimney Sweep

9 of 11 US Spelling Bee finalists are Indian-Individuals

The finalists of this year’s US Spelling Bee competition.
Image source: QUELLE INSTAGRAM / scrippsnationalspellingbee

Washington: Nine of the eleven finalists in this year’s US Spelling Bee competition are Indian-Americans, reflecting the dominance young children from the small ethnic community have had in this prestigious high pressure endurance test for more than a decade.

The 11 spellers, nine of whom are Indians, will fight for the championship during the Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals 2021 on July 8, a statement said Monday.

During the personal final, the bee has the opportunity to activate a spell-off if necessary. The spell-off would be activated in the closing minutes of the competition, if no champion has been chosen in a traditional one-person one-word round, it said.

“We are honored to introduce our Scripps National Spelling Bee finalists in 2021. Round after round this group of spellcasters proved their courage, and we look forward to seeing them show their knowledge and hard work as they take on the dictionary on the national stage, ”said Dr. J. Michael Durnil, CEO of the Bee.

“Congratulations to all of this year’s 209 national qualifiers,” they have had a challenging year in many ways and our team is proud to have seen their journey, “he said.

The National Bee is a top-class high-pressure endurance test as well as a nerd spelling match that magicians spend months preparing for.

This year’s competition finals will be played in person at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida and will be broadcast live on prime-time on ESPN2.

The 11 finalists are Roy Seligman, 12, from Nassau, Bahamas; Bhavana Madini, 13, from New York; Sreethan Gajula, 14, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Ashrita Gandhari, 14, of Leesburg, Virginia; Avani Joshi, 13, of Illinois; Zaila Avantgarde, 14, from New Orleans; Vivinsha Veduru, 10, from Texas; Dhroov Bharatia, 12, from Dallas; Vihaan Sibal, 12, from Texas; Akshainie Kamma, 13, from Texas and Chaitra Thummala, 12, from San Francisco.

For the past 20 years, Indians have dominated the Spelling Bee competition, despite only making up about 1 percent of the US population.

The Bee was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But there were eight co-champions in 2019, seven of which were Native Americans, bringing the total number of Indo-American champions to 26 since 1999.

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