WASHINGTON, May 31: Bruhat Soma, a 12-year-old Indian-American seventh-grade student from Florida, has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee by spelling 29 words correctly in the tiebreaker, continuing the dominance of children from the Indian-American community in this prestigious competition.
Bruhat emerged victorious on Thursday, earning over USD 50,000 in cash and other prizes. This year’s contest concluded with a tiebreaker in which Bruhat spelled 29 words correctly in 90 seconds, surpassing Faizan Zaki, who managed to spell 20 words correctly in the lightning round.
Bruhat’s championship word was “abseil,” defined as “a descent in mountaineering by means of a rope looped over a projection above.” He went first in the tiebreaker, and after spelling 30 words, his victory seemed inevitable. Faizan’s pace was more uneven, attempting 25 words but missing four.
“Bruhat Soma rules the word! The Champion of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee! The boy with the unbelievable memory doesn’t miss a word all week and takes home the Scripps Cup!” the organizers said.
“Bruhat Soma correctly spelled 29 out of 30 words attempted to earn the coveted champion title and beat the standing spell-off record set by Harini Logan in 2022. Logan spelled 22 out of 26 words correctly during the competition’s first-ever spell-off,” they added.
Corrie Loeffler, executive director of the Bee, praised the final spellers, saying, “Faizan and Bruhat showed up tonight ready to take down the dictionary. Together, they were a powerful match.”
The two finalists each had 90 seconds to spell as many words as they could from a predetermined list while the other speller was sequestered. Adam Symson, president and CEO of The E W Scripps Company, presented Bruhat with the championship trophy. “At just 12 years old, Bruhat impressed with his display of knowledge and composure,” Symson said.
This was Bruhat’s third time participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He tied for 74th place in 2023 and 163rd place in 2022. Faizan Zaki of Allen, Texas, received USD 25,000 for his efforts.
Other top finishers included Shrey Parikh of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Ananya Prassanna of Apex, North Carolina, both tying for third place and receiving USD 12,500 each.
Bruhat was coached by 16-year-old former speller Sam Evans. Prior to the Bee, he had won the Words of Wisdom Bee and SpellPundit Bee. Bruhat’s father, Srinivas Soma, hails from Nalgonda in Telangana.
The 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee featured eight finalists, five of whom were Indian-Americans: Rishabh Saha, 14, and Shrey Parikh, 12, from California; Aditi Muthukumar, 13, from Colorado; and Ananya Rao Prassanna, 13, from North Carolina. Last year’s champion, Indian-American Dev Shah, won by correctly spelling “psammophile,” while Harini Logan was the 2022 champion.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee, the nation’s largest and longest-running educational program, was launched in 1925. Known for its high-profile, high-pressure environment, the Bee was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, there were eight co-champions, seven of whom were Indian-Americans. Since 1999, 29 Indian-Americans have emerged as champions.
This year, 245 spellers participated in the competition, including 65 who had previously competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Among them were 24 spellers, mostly Indian-Americans, with relatives who had participated in a combined 40 Scripps National Spelling Bees. Four 2023 finalists advanced to the 2024 national competition: Sarah Fernandes, Aryan Khedkar, Tarini Nandakumar, and Shradha Rachamreddy. Additionally, Akash Vukoti has qualified for a record six finals in various years.
