Bruhat Soma Wins National Spelling Bee

Bruhat Soma , Wins National Spelling Bee.

12-year-old Bruhat from Tampa, Florida, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30.

12-year-old Bruhat from Tampa, Florida, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30.

During a lightning-round tiebreaker with Faizan Zaki, Bruhat correctly spelled 29 words in 90 seconds, AP reports.

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Bruhat received a trophy and over $50,000 in cash and prizes.

I was pretty confident that I had a chance at winning because I’ve been working so hard.

And I really wanted to win.

That’s why I practiced the spell-off so much, Bruhat Soma, via statement.

The word that Bruhat won the competition with was "abseil.".

It means "descent in mountaineering by means of a rope looped over a projection above.".

The finals only had eight spellers competing, the fewest since 2010, AP reports.

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Some critics were upset that the two spellers were subjected to a "spell-off" instead of being given the chance to compete in a conventional round.

I do wish that we would have gotten to see more of a duel between them, Charlotte Walsh, 2023 Spelling Bee runner-up.

I definitely think they should have been given an opportunity to have some conventional spelling rounds before they defaulted to the spell-off, Scott Remer, one of four coaches who worked with Faizan, via statement