Washington, May 31 (IANS) Thirteen-year-old Indian American Arvind Mahankali won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee breaking a personal four-year losing streak.
Arvind, of Bayside Hills, New York, correctly spelled “knaidel”, a German-origin word meaning a type of dumpling.
“I thought a German curse has turned into a German blessing,” NBC News quoted him as saying after he emerged the winner.
Even as he continued the tradition of Indian Americans winning the annual event, he also became the first boy since 2008 to win the title.
He had finished third in the last two years.
There were 11 finalists in the bee that was held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
Another 13-year-old Indian American, Pranav Sivakumar, of Chicago, came second after he was felled by the word “cyanophycean”.
In all, 281 contestants featured in the final stage of the bee.
Eight-year-old Indian American Tara Singh was the youngest contestant in this year’s edition.
Champion Arvind took home $30,000 and the Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved trophy.
He also received $2,500 savings bond from Merriam-Webster and a complete reference library.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, he got $2,000 of reference works including the Britannica Global Edition, 2013 Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD-ROM, and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium.
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