Spelling Bee championship finals: two finalists left in bid for for orthographic glory

Bruhat Soma, 12, of Tampa, Florida, stands amid confetti after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Photograph: Nathan Howard/AP

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A look at tonight’s finalists

Well, here we are. It’s all happening. The championship finals of the 96th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee are upon us. The eyes of the orthographic world are trained on the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, where spelling’s biggest night is a little more than an hour away from popping off. (Not like there’s any other news happening inside the beltway today.)

More than 11m students, ranging in age from six to 15, participated in this year’s competition at one stage or another. Of those, 245 earned a trip to (just outside) the nation’s capital by winning spelling bees organized by their local sponsors, typically newspapers, universities or non-profits. All roads have led to tonight: the Super Bowl for smart kids. And it all gets started at 8pm ET.

Quick Guide96th Scripps National Spelling BeeShow

How to watch

All times Eastern.

Tue 28 May Preliminaries 8am to 7.40pm (ION Plus, spellingbee.com)

Wed 29 May Quarter-finals 8am to 12.45pm (ION Plus, spellingbee.com)

Wed 29 May Semi-finals 2.30pm to 6.30pm (ION Plus, spellingbee.com)

Thu 30 May Finals 8pm to 10pm (ION)

That elite field of invitees was narrowed down to 148 during Tuesday’s preliminary rounds, then further trimmed to eight during Wednesday’s rigorous quarter-finals and semi-finals, which one parent described as a “bloodbath”.

This octet of survivors represents the best of the best. Here’s who they are.

Speller No 18, Rishabh Saha
Sponsor: SNSB Region One Bee (Merced, California)
Age 14, 8th grade
School: Herbert H Cruickshank Middle School
Fun fact: Rishabh has visited 59 of the 63 US National Parks

Speller No 22, Shrey Parikh
Sponsor: San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (San Bernardino, California)
Age 12, 6th grade
School: Day Creek Intermediate School
Fun fact: When Shrey was 7 years old, he wrote a book and donated all the proceeds to wildlife conservancy

Speller No 31, Aditi Muthukuma
Sponsor: The Denver Post (Denver, Colorado)
Age 13, 8th grade
School: Hulstrom K-8
Fun fact: Aditi was recognized as a 2024 National Junior Honor Society Outstanding Achievement Award winner

Speller No 47, Bruhat Soma
Sponsor: Rays Baseball Foundation and Rowdies Soccer Fund (St Petersburg, Florida)
Age 12, 7th grade
School: Turner/Bartels K-8 School
Fun fact: Bruhat was one of the top few in the nation chosen to participate in traditional memory sloka performance

Speller No 145, YY Liang
Sponsor: ScholarSkills for STARS (New Windsor, New York)
Age 12, 7th grade
School: Homeschool
Fun fact: YY is learning shooting from nine-time world champion Eric Grauffel

Speller No 155, Ananya Rao Prassanna
Sponsor: Carolina Panthers (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Age 13, 7th grade
School: Davis Drive Middle School
Fun fact: Ananya likes to make word play jokes and songs to remember the word

Speller No 207, Faizan Zaki
Sponsor: Dallas Sports Commission (Dallas, Texas)
Age 12, 6th grade
School: Rice Middle School
Fun fact: Faizan has a twin sister, Zara, who also made it to the district spelling bee this year

Speller No 212, Kirsten Tiffany Santos
Sponsor: Houston Community College (Houston, Texas)
Age 13, 8th grade
School: International Leadership of Texas Katy K-8
Fun fact: Kirsten is the first chair violinist of her school orchestra

The final eight competitors of the Scripps National Spelling Bee pose for a group photograph after the conclusion of Wednesday’s semi-finals. From left they are, Faizan Zaki, 12, of Allen, Texas; Bruhat Soma, 12, of Tampa, Florida; Shrey Parikh, 12, of Rancho Cucamonga, California; Rishabh Saha, 14, of Merced, California; Kirsten Tiffany Santos, 13, of Richmond, Texas; Aditi Muthukumar, 13, of Westminster, Colorado; YY Liang, 12, of Hartsdale, New York; and Ananya Rao Prassanna, 13, Apex, North Carolina. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP