Eight of 11 finalists from the community.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The 86th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, which started on Tuesday and reaches its finale tonight, is no stranger to Indian champions. This year looks like it will be no different, as eight of the just-announced eleven finalists are of Indian origin.
Pranav Sivakumar, Vanya Shivashankar, Sriram Hathwar, Chetan Reddy, Arvind Mahankali, Nikitha Chandran and Vismaya Kharkar, have all been named finalists for the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee. All they have to do is survive the next round – and potentially one or two more afterward if needed – without spelling a single word incorrectly, and they’ll be named the champion.
The kids, all of whom are in sixth-eighth grade and are from states as far-ranging as Texas, Utah, Florida, and New York, have already spelled some incredibly difficult words in the earlier rounds, and the competition will only get more intense as the finals get underway. Some contestants, like Arvind Mahankali, are seasoned veterans of the Scripps Spelling Bee; Arvind has won third place here twice already. He’s hoping to finally hoist the championship trophy this year.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee finals begin tonight at 8pm. You can catch them on ESPN2.
(UPDATED: A previous version of this story had incorrectly identified the number of Indian American spellers in the finals.)