{"id":53530,"date":"2018-06-09T11:27:48","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T18:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=53530"},"modified":"2018-06-09T11:27:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-09T18:27:48","slug":"k-o-i-n-o-n-i-a-koinonia-nemmani-wins-2018-national-spelling-bee-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/k-o-i-n-o-n-i-a-koinonia-nemmani-wins-2018-national-spelling-bee-title\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cK-o-i-n-o-n-i-a, Koinonia\u201d: Nemmani Wins 2018 National Spelling Bee Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Karthik Nemmani (r) is surrounded by family and friends after he correctly spelled the word ‘koinonia’ to win the 91st Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, May 31, in National Harbor, Maryland. Forty-one finalists were selected to participate in the final day after a record 516-spellers were officially invited, up from 291 in 2017. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Karthik Nemmani, a 14-year-old Indian American boy, won the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee, June 1, taking home more than $42,000 in cash and prizes after correctly spelling \u201ckoinonia\u201d to become the 14th<\/sup> champion from the community in 11 consecutive years.<\/p>\n

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An eighth-grader from McKinney, Texas, Karthik Nemmani won the spelling competition after numerous rounds against Naysa Modi, another Indian-American student, underscoring the overwhelming dominance of Indian Americans in the competition.<\/p>\n

Karthik and Naysa were the last two standing of the initial 516 spellers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had confidence, but I didn\u2019t think it would really happen,\u201d he said, adding that he knew he would correctly spell the word meaning Christian fellowship or communion as soon as he heard it.<\/p>\n

Karthik received $40,000 and a trophy from the Scripps Bee, a $2,500 cash prize (and a complete reference library) from Merriam-Webster, trips to New York and Hollywood as part of a media tour, and a pizza party for their school, the Washington Post<\/i> reported.<\/p>\n

Forty-one spellers advanced to the finals yesterday out of a field of 516 by far the largest in the 93-year history of the competition at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland to battle it out for the title of champion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 16 finalists ranged in age from 11 to 14 and included nine girls and seven boys.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Karthik said he went 20 rounds toe-to-toe with Naysa in their local Bee, only to be invited to the National Spelling Bee through the RSVBee program where they would again square off on stage, the Spelling Bee said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool to be on stage. It\u2019s what I\u2019ve been dreaming of for years now,\u201d he was quoted as saying by the statement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lot of work, Karthik said, but worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had confidence,\u201d he said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I expected it. It was a dream come true.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When not spelling, Karthik likes to play tennis and watch the Chicago Bulls and the Denver Broncos. He also likes robotics and is looking forward to getting some rest, it said.<\/p>\n

Another Indian American, Atman Balakrishnan, the 12-year-old son of 1985 champion Balu Natarajan, did not advance to the finals.<\/p>\n

Karthik also continued a longtime trend by becoming the 14th<\/sup> champion or co-champion of South Asian descent the bee has had in 11 consecutive years.<\/p>\n

The National Bee is a high-profile, high-pressure endurance test as much as a nerd spelling contest and spellers spend months preparing for it.<\/p>\n

The stress of competing against the dictionary was etched on many spellers\u2019 faces as they took their turn at the microphone and in front of the television cameras.<\/p>\n

The spellers come from all over the U.S., plus one from Canada. And several had appeared at the national bee in previous years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karthik Nemmani (r) is surrounded by family and friends after he correctly spelled the word ‘koinonia’ to win the 91st Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, May 31, in National Harbor, Maryland. Forty-one finalists were selected to participate in the final day after a record 516-spellers were officially invited,…<\/p>\n

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