Shine on: 9 out of 11 US Spelling Bee finalists for this year are Indian-Americans

Out of 11, nine finalists for this year’s US Spelling Bee contest are Indian-Americans, which reflects the leaps the children from minority communities have taken in the past few years.

These youngsters will now compete for the title of ‘champion’ in the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals, which is scheduled to take place on July 08.

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"We are honoured to introduce our 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalists. Round after round, this group of spellers proved their mettle, and we look forward to seeing them show off their knowledge and hard work as they square off against the dictionary on the national stage," said Dr J. Michael Durnil, executive director of the Bee.

"Congratulations to all of this year’s 209 national qualifiers – they’ve persevered over a year that has been challenging in many ways, and our team is proud to have witnessed their journey," he added.

The National Bee competition is a high-profile competition that tests a child’s ability to detect the correct spellings in a high-pressured environment.

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This year, the 11 finalists are Roy Seligman, 12, from Nassau, The Bahamas; Bhavana Madini, 13, from New York; Sreethan Gajula, 14, from Charlotte, North Carolina; Ashrita Gandhari, 14, from Leesburg, Virginia; Avani Joshi, 13, from Illinois; Zaila Avant-garde, 14, from New Orleans; Vivinsha Veduru, 10, from Texas; Dhroov Bharatia, 12, from Dallas; Vihaan Sibal, 12, from Texas; Akshainie Kamma, 13, from Texas and Chaitra Thummala, 12, from San Francisco.

It is not the first time that Indian-origin children have dominated the Spelling Bee competition. Over the last few years, the trend has been the same, even though Indian-American children comprise only one per cent of the total US population.

(With inputs from agencies)