Indian-American Faizan Zaki wins prestigious 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee

Faizan Zaki a 13yearold IndianAmerican student from Texas has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee after he spelt eacuteclaircissement correctly maintaining the dominance of the children from the community in the prestigious US competitionZaki bested Sarvadnya Kadam to win the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29 nightA 7thgrade student at C M Rice Middle School Zaki finished second in 2024 in a spelloff to another IndianAmerican Bruhat SomaThis was Zakis fourth time participating in the Scripps National Spelling BeeZaki earned the prestigious title in round 21 when he correctly spelt eacuteclaircissement which is defined as the clearing up of something obscure enlightenmentiquestHe outlasted eight other accomplished spellers to win the title on Thursday nightThe culmination of the national championship came with a shockZaki had an earlier chance to win this years bee in the eighteenth round after mistakes by two other finalistsIn what could have been the last round when there were three left Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane got their words wrongIt seemed to be Zakis big chance But he rushed to spell his word before a proper explanation and got the first letter wrongHardly before the word commelina had left the pronouncers mouth Zaki jumped on it saying kamHe recognised his mistake right away but it was too lateAs he spelt the winning word Zaki fell on the stage in joy as confetti rained down I dont know what to say Im just really happy he saidOrganisers congratulated Zakis parents and his grandparents who were watching the competition from their home in Hyderabad I cant describe it Zaki said minutes later Its so amazing getting to this point Winning I never expected thisAdam Symson president and CEO of the E W Scripps Company presented the championship trophyFaizan exemplified the determination that defines a champion said Symson His unwavering focus and preparation led to a wellearned victory tonight on the Bees largest stage he saidIn this landmark 100th year of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Scripps is honoured to celebrate Faizans extraordinary achievement as well as the spellers throughout the Bees history who continue to inspire millions he saidTheir stories remind us of the shared joy in cheering for their success reinforcing the Bees legacy as a beloved tradition that for a century has championed connection resilience and the limitless potential of young minds Symson saidThe first Spelling Bee competition was held in 1925 in Washington DC and only nine kids participated according to Scripps This year more than 200 students competedZaki is only the fifth speller in Bee history to win after coming in second place the year before He tied for 21st place in 2023 and 370th place in 2019Zaki will take home USD 50000 a medal and a trophyHe will receive a USD 2500 prize and a reference library from the Bees dictionary partner MerriamWebsterKadam of Visalia California placed second in the competition and will receive USD 25000Dharavane of Dunwoody Georgia will receive USD 15000Thirty of the past 36 champions including Zaki of the Scripps National Spelling Bee have been Indian AmericanNupur Lala was the first IndianAmerican to win the competition in 1999This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever