Team Blitz India
S T Petersburg’s 12-year-old prodigy, Indian origin Bruhat Soma, clinched the coveted title at the 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee, triumphing in a tense spell-off against his peer, Faizan Zaki.
Soma, already a seasoned champion with three spelling bee victories in 2024, faced the national stage with composure and determination. “My heart was pumping so fast when I realised I won,” he shared, reflecting on his victory. “I had a good feeling I would win because I did pretty good, but yeah, you never know. I still couldn’t absorb the moment yet.”
The competition reached its climax after 14 rounds spanning three days, necessitating a spell-off to crown the winner. Soma spelled an impressive 29 words correctly in a 90-second sprint, outpacing Zaki’s 20 correct words. His coach, Sam Evans, attributed Soma’s success to rigorous practice. “For every one-hour practice session, we would do three spell-offs. He’s certainly very, very good at them,” Evans remarked.
Soma’s preparation was meticulous. His father simulated the spell-off conditions daily, using a programme to pronounce words in rapid succession. “I really wanted all of this, but you could never expect it,” Soma said.
The 2024 finals commenced with 245 spellers from across the United States and the globe. The field narrowed significantly, with 97 participants eliminated in the preliminaries and 45 advancing from the quarter-finals to the semi-finals. Ultimately, only eight contestants made it to the finals.
In the final rounds, two spellers were eliminated. The remaining six navigated the vocabulary round successfully. Kirsten Santos, fifth place in 2022, secured sixth place this year, missing the word “apophasis.” The competition tightened as Aditi Muthukumar faltered on “lillooet,” and Shrey Parikh along with Ananya Prassanna exited just before the broadcast window closed, leading to the decisive spell-off.
In the spell-off, there was no single winning word. Zaki spelled “nicuri” to trigger the spell-off after Soma successfully spelled “daena.” Despite the fierce competition, Soma and Zaki shared a moment of camaraderie, embracing before the final results were announced.
