Odia Girl Shrutika Padhy emerges as a co champion in the Scripps National Spelling Bee
In one of the most extraordinary endings of The Scripps National Spelling Bee in the 94 year long history, eight spellers were declared Co- Champions.
The eight co-champions spelled the final 47 words correctly in their historic walk-off victory, going through five consecutive perfect rounds. The competition had 20 rounds in all.
The winners, six boys and two girls from Alabama, California, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas, ranged in age from 12 to 14 and dubbed themselves “octo-champs.” They were Rishik Gandhasri, Erin Howard, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Christopher Serrao and Rohan Raja.
Shruthika’s parents, Umashankar Padhy and Sujata Sabat are from Odisha. Shruthika has been a finalist and won multiple local, regional and national spelling bees since she began competing in kindergarten. Shruthika has built an impressive spelling bee resume over the past years. She has participated in a variety of spelling and vocabulary competitions at the regional and national levels.
Odisha News Insight
Indians or Indian Origin Spellers have been constantly winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the past many years.