Indian-origin boy wins US Spelling Bee contest by getting this word correct

Dev Shah, an Indian-origin boy, won the latest Scripps National Spelling Bee contest in the United States. He was rewarded a $50,000 prize after clearing the 15th round of the finals. A resident of Largo in Florida, he nailed the word “psammophile”, which according to Merriam-Webster means an organism that thrives on sandy soils. Another eighth-grader Charlotte Walsh, a resident of Arlington in Virginia, finished in second-place after spelling “daviely”, a Scottish-rooted word for listlessly, in the 14th round.

On the other hand, Shah, a Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School student, correctly spelled “bathypitotmeter,” in the 14th round. But in order to secure the first position, he needed to spell accurately one more word which eventually was “psammophile”.

“It’s surreal. My legs are still shaking,” the 14-year-old told CNN after winning the contest in Maryland. Dev is the 22nd Spelling Bee champion with a South Asian heritage in the last 24 years.

Indian-Americans dominate the top position

Out of 11 million entries from around the world aged 11 to 14, Dev Shah was one of 11 finalists. In the 2019 spelling bee, Dev tied for 51st place, while in the 2021 edition, he tied for 76th.

For years, Indian-Americans have dominated the National Spelling Bee which was started in 1925 and is open to students only till the eighth grade. Last year, Harini Logan, an eighth-grader from Texas, beat another Indian-American, Vikram Raju. In a 90-second spell-off, Logan correctly spelled 22 words.

In addition to being crowned champion, Dev was given a $50,000 cash prize from E.W. Scripps Co, the Bee’s sponsor. The Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster also awarded him monetary prizes. The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary serves as the competition’s official dictionary.

A total of 94 girls, 134 boys, and two nonbinary spellers competed this year. After 27 years, the 2022 show moved from cable sports channel ESPN to Scripps subsidiary-owned ION and Bounce.

This year’s finals will again be broadcast by ION, according to Reuters. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. It is run not-for-profit by The E. W. Scripps Company.

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