Indian-American teen wins Scripps Spelling Bee for 11th straight year
Continuing with the overwhelming dominance of Indian-Americans in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee, Karthik Nemmani, a 14-year-old Indian-American, today won the contest, becoming the 14th champion from the community in 11 consecutive years. An eighth-grader from McKinney, Texas, Karthik won the competition after correctly spelling "koinonia". He is taking home more than $42,000 in cash and prizes.
Karthik was against another Indian-American student
Karthik was against another Indian-American student named Naysa Modi, who were the last two standing of the initial 516 spellers. Karthik received $40,000 and a trophy from the Scripps Bee, a $2,500 cash prize and a complete reference library from Merriam-Webster, trips to New York and Hollywood as part of a media tour, and a pizza party for their school.
2018 saw 516 spellers, the highest in the competition's history
41 spellers advanced to the finals yesterday out of 516, which is by far the largest in the 93-year-old history of the competition, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland. The 16 finalists ranged in age from 11 to 14 and included nine girls and seven boys.
After months of rigorous preparation, Karthik now wants some rest
Karthik likes to play tennis and watch the Chicago Bulls and the Denver Broncos. He also likes robotics. After months of preparations, he's now looking to getting some rest. The National Bee is a high-profile, high-pressure endurance test as much as a nerd spelling match, and spellers spend months preparing for it. The spellers come from all over the US, plus one from Canada.
