For just the second time in the history of the event, the Scripps National Spelling Bee ended with a spell-off Thursday night.
Emerging victorious was Bruhat Soma from Florida, who spelled 29 words correctly during the spell-off to narrowly beat Faizan Zaki from Texas, who spelled 20 words correctly.
Scripps National Spelling Bee @ScrippsBeeThe 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion is <a href="">#Speller47</a> Bruhat Soma with 29 correct words. A BEEdazzling effort in our second-ever Spell-off by <a href="">#Speller47</a> Bruhat Soma and <a href="">#Speller207</a> Faizan Zaki, who correctly spelled 20 words in the Spell-off. <a href="">#spellingbee</a> <a href="">
iontv @iontvWith a total of 29 correct spell-off words, Bruhat Soma is our ππππ πππ«π’π©π©π¬ ππππ’π¨π§ππ₯ ππ©ππ₯π₯π’π§π πππ ππ‘ππ¦π©π’π¨π§! π<br><br>Help us congratulate our newest champ from St. Petersburg, FL!<a href="">#SpellingBee</a> <a href="">
In the final round of the Spelling Bee, Soma spelled "Hoofddorp" correctly while Zaki spelled "nicuri" to advance. Being the only two who spelled their words correctly, the event went into a spell-off, giving fans plenty of excitement.
Throughout the night, Soma managed to spell words with very little hesitation, including his word in the final round of the event. Merely seconds after "nicuri" was pronounced to him, he fired off the spelling like he had just read it himself.
Given Soma's no-hesitation approach, the spell-off certainly worked in his favor.
Russell Steinberg @Russ_SteinbergBruhat went on an absolute tear. A performance for the ages. <a href="">#spellingbee</a>
Mike McIntyre @MichaelMcIntyreBruhat's a boss! <a href="">@ScrippsBee</a> <a href="">#spellbound</a>
While Soma and Zaki were the last two standing on the stage, the night began with eight spellers who worked their way through the competition and into the final. The finalists included Soma, Zaki, Rishabh Saha, Shrey Parikh, Aditi Muthukumar, YY Liang, Ananya Rao Prassanna and Kirsten Santos.
By Round 14, four of the original group remained. Parikh was eliminated after spelling "kanin" incorrectly and Prassanna misspelled "murrina" and Soma and Zaki aced their words to force the spell-off.
A spell-off isn't something fans are used to seeing, but it certainly made for an exciting finish to the Bee:
Jack Church @jackwchurchWe have a spell off at the Spelling Bee!<br><br>Get to ION!
B. Kari Moore @adiversityratioWhew, what a spell off!!<br><br>Huge props to Faizan holding it down for Texas, and congratulations to Bruhat for a thunderous victory!<br><br>THE SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE IS THE GREATEST SPORTING EVENT EVER.
Max (Wolves in 4) @wildlycoolguySay what you want about the spell off but that was electric from Bruhat
While some fans were in favor of the spell-off, others think the event should have ended with a traditional round:
Kevin (Friedman) Kingman @friedman_kevinThe spell off is the worst thing to happen to the bee. I can ALMOST get over adding meaning rounds. I will never get over adding the spell off. This shouldn't be a speed thing, too many factors that are inappropriate for the type of contestants the bee gets <a href="">#spellingbee</a>
Mike McIntyre @MichaelMcIntyreThe spell off didn't seem fair. Let the kids go head-to-head until a tiebreaker is necessary. Still, how incredible are all of these young people? Also loved the affirmation after each elimination. Bravo. <a href="">@ScrippsBee</a>
kcd @kcdiva21Wait hold up isnt there supposed to be a championship word list before going to a spell off?? <a href="">#spellingbee</a>
While the ending of this year's Spelling Bee might be controversial, there's no denying its excitement, and now Soma walks away with a $50,000 cash prize and the Scripps Cup.
