Indian-Origin Boy Bruhat Soma Wins Scripps National Spelling Bee With 29 Correct Words, Takes Home $50,000

A 12-year-old Indian-origin boy triumphed at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, remaining unbeatable throughout the competition. Indian-American Bruhat Soma spelled 29 words correctly in the tiebreaker, outpacing Faizan Zaki by nine words to secure the title.

He was awarded a trophy and over $50,000 in cash and prizes. The seventh-grader from Tampa, Florida, had already won three consecutive spelling bees before taking the stage at a convention center outside Washington, DC, for the most prestigious spelling competition in the English language.

“I always want to win. And this was, like, my main goal,” Bruhat said. “It didn’t matter if I won all those other bees. This is what I was aiming for. So I’m just really happy that I won this.” The bee began with eight finalists, the fewest since 2010. From the start, it was clear that Scripps was trying to fill the 2-hour broadcast window on Ion, a network owned by the Cincinnati-based media company.

Frequent commercial breaks allowed spellers to mingle with their coaches, relatives, and supporters at the side of the stage. Eventually, bee officials announced it was time for the tiebreaker, known as a “spell-off,” before Bruhat and Faizan had a chance to compete in a conventional round.

“I do wish that we would have gotten to see more of a duel between them,” said Charlotte Walsh, last year’s runner-up. “It’s a really interesting choice to go straight into the spell-off.” ruhat went first and successfully spelled 30 words, making it seemingly impossible to beat. Faizan’s pace was more uneven; he attempted 25 words but misspelled four.

Scripps officials said Bruhat’s winning word was “abseil,” defined as a descent in mountaineering by means of a rope looped over a projection above. In the tiebreaker, which was also used in 2022 when Harini Logan won, the winning word is the one that gives a speller one more correct word than their competitor.

After his victory, Bruhat was showered with confetti and handed the trophy. Faizan, in tears, accepted hugs from other spellers. Earlier, he had embraced his friend Shrey Parikh after Shrey was eliminated onstage. Faizan had spelled his final word in the regular competition, “nicuri,” with confident speed, but he wasn’t given another chance.

“I definitely think they should have been given an opportunity to have some conventional spelling rounds before they defaulted to the spell-off,” said Scott Remer, one of Faizan’s coaches. “I don’t think it really needs an additional injection of drama through artificial means.” Despite the controversy, Bruhat’s preparation paid off. He had previously won the Words of Wisdom bee, the SpellPundit bee, and an online bee emceed by last year’s Scripps champion, Dev Shah.

29th time in the last 35 years

His last loss was in September at the WishWin senior spelling bee, where he misspelled “Gloucester.” As unstoppable as he appeared, Bruhat admitted there was one word he didn’t know: “tennesi,” a monetary unit of Turkmenistan. He hopes to have a relaxing summer, playing basketball, a passion he set aside to prepare for the bee. Bruhat’s victory marks the 29th time in the last 35 years that an Indian American has won the bee.

His parents immigrated from Telangana, India, a region well-represented in the spelling bee community. His coach, 16-year-old Sam Evans, worked with three of the top four finishers. “It’s all his hard work. I’m very happy that I could use my experience to help him, but at the end of the day, it’s all about his hard work and his dedication,” Evans said. “I’m so happy for him.”

(With agency inputs)