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Rediff.com  » News » Kashyap holds on to 'appoggiatura'
to win National Spelling Bee contest

Kashyap holds on to 'appoggiatura'
to win National Spelling Bee contest

By Rediff News Bureau
Last updated on: June 03, 2005 03:12 IST
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Thirteen-year-old Anurag Kashyap held on to his nerves and his memory as he edged out Samir Sudhir Patel and Aliya Robin Deri in the final round to win the 78th Scripps National Spelling Bee that concluded in Washington, DC on June 2.

Kashyap sealed his win in the 19th round, after both Deri and Patel dropped out in the 18th, leaving him as the sole contestant. His final word was 'appoggiatura', a word derived from Italian that means 'an embellishing note or tone preceding an essential melodic note or tone and usually written as a note of smaller size.'

Deri failed to tackle the French-origin 'trouvaille', spelling it as 'trouvail' while Patel misspelt 'Roscian' as 'Rossian.'

Kashyap, an eight-grader and straight-A student at the Meadowbrook Middle School, Poway, CA, lives in San Diego, and was sponsored by his local newspaper The San Diego Union-Tribune.

He tied for 47th place in last year's competition.

The win gives him $22,000, $1,000 in a savings bond, a $5,000 college scholarship, one set of the Encyclopedia Britannica, one set of the Great Books of the Western World, and the 2005 Britannica CD (From Encyclopedia Brittanica), and a reference library from Merriam Webster.

Kashyap recently also participate in state-level Mathcounts and Science Olympiad competitions. He also represented his school in the California Geographic Bee.

Deri plays violin, viola, and piano and is a member of two orchestras. She swims competitively and also enjoys diving. Her other pastimes include Indian dance and Tai Chi.

Patel, who is only 11, tied for third place in 2003 and 27th place in 2004. He plays the piano, and enjoys playing chess and football.

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