Scripps National Spelling Bee won by an Indian-American again

When the competition started heating up in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee contest, all eyes were fixed on two kids sitting on stage and everyone knew that this year too an Indian-American would be the spell bee champion.

Shantanu Srivatsa and Anamika Veeramani were the two final contestants on the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest this year. The contest was a closely fought between the duo until Anamika Veeramani, a 14-year-old girl from North Royalton, Ohio clinched the title and became the champion of the 83rd Spell Bee contest.

The competition has been won three times in a row by Indian-American kids now. Indian-Americans comprise less than 1 percent of the U.S. population according to 2000 census data, but they have an impressive bee winning streak — taking the trophy in eight of the past 12 years.

Concerned that there wouldn't be enough spellers left to fill the two-hour slot on ABC, organizers stopped the semifinals in the middle of a round Friday afternoon and declared that the 10 spellers onstage would advance to the prime-time broadcast. Essentially, the alphabetical order of the U.S. states helped determine which spellers got to move on the marquee event.

There were 19 spellers left at the start of the semi-final round, which was too many for the prime-time slot on ABC. But when the round turned out to be brutal — nine of the first 13 misspelled — ABC was on the verge of having too few so they decided to stop the semi-final and take all the remaining kids for the finals.

Anamika's father, Alagaiya Veeramani, a civil engineer, said he had no clue why Indian-Americans seem to do so well at the competition. He guessed it has something to do with a hard-work ethic. Anamika has yet to start high school, but already envisions attending Harvard University and becoming a cardiovascular surgeon.

All of which, she'll now have time to do. Spelling, at least competitively, is over for this eighth grader. Students are not eligible once they win the national competition.