Abu Dhabi student wins spelling bee championship

The eighth grader from Abu Dhabi Indian School battled through 12 gruelling rounds defeating 2,300 other competitors from around the UAE in the process.

Shanai Tanwar, standing, competes in The Danube spelling Bee competition at the Jumeriah Beach Hotel, Dubai. Duncan Chard for The National

DUBAI // There are very few words Deepak Satheesan doesn’t know how to spell, and “champion” certainly isn’t one of them.

The teenager from Abu Dhabi Indian School battled through 12 gruelling rounds and defeated 2,300 other competitors to win the Danube Spelling Bee Championship.

It was the first time in the competition’s three-year run that a Dubai student has not taken the trophy home.

“I’m in heaven right now,” said Deepak, 13, who won Dh32,500 in cash. His parents plan to save the money for his education.

Parents and teachers of 79 youngsters competing in the finals of the championship in a Dubai hotel on Saturday night sat nervously listening to the children spelling out strange words.

This was Deepak’s first time competing and though he did not expect to win he did feel that he deserved his victory.

“No one told me to participate, it was my idea. I was training myself the whole time, my parents encouraged me to practise.”

“Now we have higher expectations for him, he will have to do better in his education, no time to slack off,” said his mother, Suchithra.

The words the contestants had to spell included visceroptosis, sphygmomanometer, pusillanimous and shepherd.

The winner scooped Dh25,000, with Dh15,000 for second place and Dh10,000 for third.

As a bonus, Deepak and his family will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Washington DC where he will attend the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals.

The top 10, as well as the Zone Champions, were awarded prizes such as iPads, iPhones, BlackBerrys, laptops, LCD TVs, cameras and other electronics.

“I found some on the words were difficult for me. But my son didn’t have any problems, they were easy for him, even though he is only in the sixth grade” said Raja Gopal, whose son Chetan made it through to the fifth round of the finals before faltering on Philomath.

Students were given a list of 4,500 English words, sent from the US, to study for the competition, but in the final round they were asked to spell words not on the list.

“It was easy until we got to the out-of-list rounds,” said Chetan, 11, who attends Cambridge International school in Dubai.

“This was my first time competing, I really didn’t expect to get this far.”

Chetan’s mother saw that he had a talent with words and helped him practise for the competition.

“I didn’t know I was good at spelling. I learnt them by writing them down three times and learning the origins,” said Chetan, who dreams of being an astronomer when he grows up.

“Parents are very involved with grooming the competitors, much more so than the teachers,” said Renuka Singh, managing director of Exquity Events, the organiser of the competition.

“I’m very impressed with the participants this year, they have a very high standard and are learning all the techniques to spelling, not just memory any more.”

Preparations now begin for next year’s competition.

“We have to have the list to send to the students so that they can study over summer. The first round of the competition will start again in October,” said Ms Singh.

“The most important thing is that they should not get discouraged. Many of the champions in the US had to try two to four times before they won.”

“This competition is a tremendous confidence builder. It expands their language skills and helps them prepare for college entrance exams that some of them are about to take. The power of language is a very strong tool.”