Indian origin teen Harini Logan wins Scripps National Spelling Bee 2022

Harini Logan was eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee once, then reinstated. She missed four words in a grueling standoff against Vikram Raju, including one that would have given her the title. 

In the first-ever lightning-round tiebreaker, Harini finally claimed the trophy. The 13-year-old eighth-grader from San Antonio, Texas, who competed in the last fully in-person bee three years ago and endured the pandemic to make it back, spelled 21 words correctly during a 90-second spell-off, beating Vikram by six. 

Harini, one of the best-known spellers entering the bee and a crowd favorite for her poise and positivity, won more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.  

The last fully in-person version of the bee had no tiebreaker and ended in an eight-way tie. The 2020 bee was canceled because of the pandemic, and in 2021 it was mostly virtual, with only 11 finalists gathering in Florida as Zaila Avant-garde became the first Black American champion. 

The 2022 Spelling Bee Finalists

Amb. Taranjit Singh Sandhu lauds Indian American Spelling Bee stars  

Taranjit Singh Sandhu, ambassador of India to the United States, has hailed the efforts of students who participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Competition. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Sandhu complimented all the participants of the competition including those of Indian origin. He tweeted, “To bee or not to bee’, that was never the question!! Compliments to all the stars of the Scripps Spelling Bee Competition @ScrippsBee incl the champs with Indian roots.” 

The 13 finalists in Scripps Spelling Bee Competition were Sahasrad Sathish, Ekansh Rastogi, Vikram Raju, Abhilash Patel, Aliyah Alpert, Sahana Srikanth, Kirsten Santos, Nitya Kathiravan, Vihaan Sibal, Saharsh Vuppala, Surya Kapu, Harini Logan and Shijay Sivakumar. 

Images courtesy of (Image courtesy: metro.us) and (Image courtesy: Twitter/Taranjit Singh Sandhu)

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