Current:Home > StocksBruhat Soma carries a winning streak into the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals-LoTradeCoin
Bruhat Soma carries a winning streak into the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals
View Date:2024-12-24 00:25:00
OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Bruhat Soma is undefeated in his last three spelling bees.
The 12-year-old won the Words of Wisdom bee hosted by Scott Remer, a former speller, coach and study guide author. He won the SpellPundit bee organized by that study guide company. And he won the first-ever online bee emceed by Dev Shah, last year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.
“He’s competitive,” said Bruhat’s coach, 16-year-old former speller Sam Evans. “I mean, he likes winning.”
Bruhat, a seventh-grader from Tampa, Florida, will try to run his winning streak to four on Thursday night, when he competes for the National Spelling Bee title against seven other spellers, some of whom he vanquished in those other bees. The winner receives a brightly painted trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.
The number of finalists is the fewest since 2010, when Scripps had to stop a semifinal round out of fear it would bring too few spellers to the prime-time telecast, then on ABC. The bee is now broadcast on Ion — owned by Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company — and when Wednesday’s last semifinal round had a lengthy delay after six of the first 10 spellers missed their words, a similar stoppage didn’t appear out of the question.
Scripps said the delay was due to the technical issues that plagued the bee all day. Live results weren’t posted as usual, and at one point, former champion Kavya Shivashankar, tasked with saying a heartfelt goodbye to spellers who heard the bell, was handed the biography of the wrong speller and began reading it before the crowd informed her of the mix-up.
Despite some surprising eliminations in the semifinals, the eight finalists are the usual impressive group — albeit on the young side. Only three are eighth-graders in their final year of eligibility: 13-year-old Kirsten Tiffany Santos of Richmond, Texas; 14-year-old Rishabh Saha of Merced, California; and 13-year-old Aditi Muthukumar of Westminster, Colorado.
The rest are in sixth or seventh grade: 12-year-old Shrey Parikh of Rancho Cucamonga, California; 12-year-old Faizan Zaki of Allen, Texas; 12-year-old YY Liang of Hartsdale, New York; and 13-year-old Ananya Prassana of Apex, North Carolina.
Shrey and Faizan are close friends with Bruhat, and all three are tutored by Evans.
“I’m not really surprised that any of my students have made it this far. I know that they are all prepared. They have what it takes to win, all of them,” Evans said.
Bruhat in particular has impressed his coach and other onlookers with his clear command of the dictionary.
“We get through so many words per class, more than I’ve seen with any other speller. His work ethic is incredible,” Evans said. “Once he misses a word, he very rarely would miss it again. He sees it and he remembers it.”
Faizan became a crowd favorite during the semifinals for his fist-pumping excitement when he spelled correctly, and for his empathy — he rushed over and gave a big hug to his good friend Aryan Khedkar when Aryan was eliminated.
“It was just so sad to see him lose in his last year,” Faizan said. “So I just wanted to be supportive and, like, get him through this tough time.”
Aditi won the Colorado state spelling bee after a lengthy duel with her younger sister, Aadhya, who’s in fifth grade. She tied for 74th in last year’s Scripps bee but began studying harder and working with Remer to try to make a big leap.
“When we started working together, she had some holes and gaps. But what I was impressed with was the rate with which she improved,” Remer said. “She assimilated the material from the lessons pretty smoothly and flawlessly.”
___
Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow him at https://x.com/APBenNuckols
veryGood! (742)
Related
- Martha Stewart playfully pushes Drew Barrymore away in touchy interview
- Shakira Recalls Being Betrayed by Ex Gerard Piqué While Her Dad Was in ICU
- As Passover nears, New York's AG warns Jewish customers about car wash price gouging
- Pink Absolutely Stunned After Fan Throws Mom's Ashes At Her During Performance
- Lions find way to win, Bears in tough spot: Best (and worst) from NFL Week 10
- Chrissy Teigen Shares Intimate Meaning Behind Baby Boy Wren's Middle Name
- Still trying to quit that gym membership? The FTC is proposing a rule that could help
- It's impossible to fit 'All Things' Ari Shapiro does into this headline
- Apologetic rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine gets 45 days in prison for probation violations
- The U.S. is threatening to ban TikTok? Good luck
Ranking
- NFL MVP rankings: Does Steelers QB Russell Wilson deserve any consideration?
- Batteries are catching fire at sea
- One Last Climate Warning in New IPCC Report: ‘Now or Never’
- UFC and WWE will team up to form a $21.4 billion sports entertainment company
- Megan Fox Is Pregnant, Expecting Baby With Machine Gun Kelly
- Trump trial date in classified documents case set for May 20, 2024
- Jimmie Johnson Withdraws From NASCAR Race After Tragic Family Deaths
- A Colorado Home Wins the Solar Decathlon, But Still Helps Cook the Planet
Recommendation
-
Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn is ending her retirement at age 40 to make a skiing comeback
-
Inside Clean Energy: Solar Industry Wins Big in Kentucky Ruling
-
11 horses die in barbaric roundup in Nevada caught on video, showing animals with broken necks
-
6 people hit by car in D.C. hospital parking garage
-
Incredible animal moments: Watch farmer miraculously revive ailing chick, doctor saves shelter dogs
-
Singapore's passport dethrones Japan as world's most powerful
-
All new cars in the EU will be zero-emission by 2035. Here's where the U.S. stands
-
The FDIC says First Citizens Bank will acquire Silicon Valley Bank