On May 31, a 12-year-old Indian-American, Bruhat Soma, from Tampa, Florida, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in a thrilling tiebreaker. Soma, whose parents are from Telangana, India, properly spelt 29 words in the tiebreaker, outscoring Faizan Zaki by nine words. The winning word was “abseil.” Soma won a trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.
The seventh-grader had previously won three straight spelling bees. Thursday’s competition began with eight finalists and featured lengthy commercial breaks in which contestants connected with their fans. During the tiebreaker, Soma’s steady pace helped him win by correctly spelling 30 words. Zaki, who had spelt 25 words but missed four, was unable to catch up.
Soma shared his excitement and said, “It didn’t matter if I won all the other bees. This is what I aimed for. So I’m absolutely thrilled that I won.” Soma previously won the Words of Wisdom bee, the SpellPundit bee, and the first online bee hosted by last year’s Scripps champion, Dev.
According to the Associated Press, Soma’s most recent loss occurred in September 2023 at the WishWin senior spelling bee, where he misspelt “Gloucester.” Since then, he has had a winning streak.
