Friday, April 11, 2025

Indian-American wins Natl Spelling Bee contest

Date:

Share post:

Maryland: Snigdha Nandipati heard a few words she didn’t know during the National Spelling Bee, but never when she stepped to the microphone.

Calm and collected throughout, the 14-year-old Indian-American from San Diego spelled “guetapens,” a French-derived word that means ambush, snare or trap, to win the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night. She beat out eight other finalists in the nerve-wracking, brain-busting competition.

After she spelled the word, she looked from side to side, as if unsure her accomplishment was real, and, oddly, she was not immediately announced as the winner. Applause built slowly, and a few pieces of confetti trickled out before showering her. Then her 10-year-old brother ran on stage and embraced her, and she beamed. “I knew it. I’d seen it before,” Nandipati said of the winning word. “I just wanted to ask everything I could before I started spelling.” A coin collector and Sherlock Holmes fan, Nandipati aspires to become a physician or neurosurgeon. She also plays violin and is fluent in Telugu, a language spoken in southeastern India. A semifinalist last year, Nandipati became the fifth consecutive Indian-American winner and 10th in the last 14 years, a run that began in 1999 when Nupur Lala won and was later featured in the documentary “Spellbound.” (Agencies)

 

Related articles

NEHUTA, NEHUNSA support Prof Sungoh as Acting VC

Shillong, April 11: The North-Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) and the North-Eastern Hill University Non-Teaching Staff Association...

Smartphones now India’s largest export commodity, total production hits Rs 5.24 lakh cr

New Delhi, April 11: Smartphones have now become India’s single largest export commodity, crossing an all-time high of...

5.0 magnitude quake hits central Myanmar

Yangon, April 11: A 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar at about 10:59 a.m. local time on Friday,...

Google lays off hundreds from Android, Pixel, Chrome teams: Report

New Delhi, April 11: Tech giant Google has reportedly sacked hundreds of employees from its platforms and devices...