Final round starts at 8 pm Thursday.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD: Seven Indian American spellers have reached the final round of the 89th Scripps National Spelling Bee. The final kicks off at 8 pm tonight at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, and it will be broadcast live on ESPN.
The spellers who are through after the seventh round are the following:
- Cooper Komatsu, Culver City Middle School, Culver City, CA
- Snehaa Ganesh Kumar, Folsom Middle School, Folsom, CA
- Rutvik M. Gandhasri, Chaboya Middle School, San Jose, CA
- Sylvie Lamontagne, Creighton Middle School, Lakewood, CO
- Sreeniketh A. Vogoti, Fruit Cove Middle School, Saint Johns, FL
- Jashun Paluru, Battle Ground Middle School, West Lafayette, IN
- Mitchell A. Robson, St. John’s Preparatory School, Danvers, MA
- Jairam Jagadeesh Hathwar, Corning Rotary Club, Corning, New York, The Alternative School for Math and Science, Corning, NY
- Smrithi Upadhyayula, Coppell Middle School West, Coppell, TX
- Nihar Saireddy Janga, River Ridge Elementary School, Austin, TX
“It feels great because I knew this was tough competition and I’m happy to have made it this far,” Hathwar, 13, of Corning, NY, told The American Bazaar. His brother Sriram Hathwar was a co-champion in 2014. “He’s been very supportive of me, always cheering me on through all stages of the competition,” Jairam Hathwar said of his brother. The younger Hathwar tied for 22nd place in the competition last year.
“It feels a great and I’m also nervous for whats going to happen next,” 11-year-old Paluru, a sixth grader at Battle Ground Middle School, West Lafayette, IN, told The Bazaar.
“I really hope I win because this is my last year, I really need to,” said Snehaa Ganesh Kumar ofFolsom Middle School, Folsom, CA. She tied for 4th place last year.
Updated at 4:15 pm, June 26, 2016