WASHINGTON: Shrey Parikh felt the pressure of arriving at the Scripps National Spelling Bee as a favorite, but his confidence showed every time he got a word he knew. And when the bee came down to a lightning-round tiebreaker against Ishaan Gupta, Shrey left no doubt.Shrey turned a tense, high-quality final into a blowout Thursday night, racing through the 90-second "spell-off" and getting 32 words right to be crowned the best young speller in the English language. Ishaan spelled 25 words correctly in the tiebreaker.A 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, Shrey finished third in 2024 but lost his school bee last year when he was battling a fever. He has dominated the bee circuit since, winning several highly competitive online competitions against many of the same kids he outlasted this week in the nation's capital.
Shrey Parikh wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee, beating Ishaan Gupta in lightning round
The Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned a new champion, with Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old prodigy from Rancho Cucamonga, California, emerging victorious against Ishaan Gupta after an intense tiebreaker. Shrey's incredible agility saw him spell 32 words accurately within a mere 90 seconds, whereas Ishaan followed with 25.
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