Scripps National Spelling Bee 2016: championship finals – as it happened

That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to read the recap of tonight’s competition here.

Jairam Hathwar is not the first of his family to taste National Spelling Bee glory. His brother Sriram finished sixth in 2008, 2009 and 2011, third in 2013 and finished his career with a co-championship in 2014. But history shows that’s not all that rare in this space.

Twenty-nine of this year’s 285 contestants have relatives who have participated in a combined 67 bees. For instance Cooper Komatsu, who made it to tonight’s championship finals, is the grandson of Robert Rosenberg, who competed in 1955. Mira Dedhia’s mother Lekshmi Nair competed in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Dhiyana Mishra’s sister Stuti finished second in 2012, while Srinath Mahankali’s brother Arvind won it all in 2013.

View image in fullscreen

When Sriram J Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe shared the title in 2014, it was the first time the Scripps National Spelling Bee had co-champions since 1962. Then Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam fought to a memorable stalemate last year, prompting officials to install rule changes – a longer championship round with more difficult words – in an effort to ensure singular champions moving forward. So much for that.

View image in fullscreen

The moment of truth is here. First it’s Jairam, who is given Feldenkrais, the name of a somatic educational system. He nails it and rasies his arms in celebration, knowing he will be a champion regardless. Then Nihar is given gesellschaft, a world for social relations based on impersonal ties, as duty to a society or organization. And he rattles it off without hesitation! Co-champions at the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the third straight year!

There’s only one round to go and one word left for each contestant. That means Nihar and Jairam will be declared co-champions if both spell their words correctly or if both spell them incorrectly.

They both spell their next words correctly. Jairam nails zindiq, Nihar banks euchologion. And here’s where it gets interesting.

Nihar spells the word tetradrachm incorrectly. Jairam is back in!

Jairam misses! He omits the silent ‘e’ from Mischsprache and Nihar will have another chance to close the show.

Jairam spells juamave and Nihar spells Groenendael and both are correct. We’re into Championship Round 22.

Another trio of perfect rounds. Jairam nails pavonazzetto, kjeldahl and guignolet, while Nihar delivers on phulkari, haab and Hohenzollern. This is preposterous.

Had they gone this far under last year’s rules, Jairam and Nihar would have already been co-champions. Instead, due to the newly installed rule changes, they’re still going strong. Hathwar spells myiasis and Stymphalian correctly, while Janga nails parinari and ynambu.

Three more perfect rounds. Jairam spells doab, lygaeid and krausen correctly, while Nihar nails promyshlennik, écorché and villancico. Not so much as a blink from these two.

Nihar Janga is up with glory within reach. The first word is rafraîchissoir, a table of the 18th century having a cooler for bottles and shelves for plates, and he nails it. That leaves him one correctly spelled word away from the championship. That word is ayacahuite ... and he bottles it! What drama! Jairam has been gifted new life and he’s back in the game! It’s Nihar’s first miss of any kind throughout the competition and at the world possible time.

Nihar Janga is within touching distance of the title after Jairam misspells drahthaar. You could see Nihar shaking his head in the background the moment Jairam made his mistake. Now Nihar needs to spell his word for the round followed by a championship word to take the belt.

Jairum is up. The word is whau, a New Zealand tree of the family Tiliaceae. Nails it. Nijar matches it with a spelling of gerrhosaurid.

They’re really moving now. Jairam nails chremslach, while Nihar wows the crowd with an accurate spelling of uintjie.

Another perfect round. Jairam correctly spells gyttja, while Nihar nails taoiseach.

Two more correct for Jairam: fothergilla and keurboom. Two more correct for Nihar: ergataner and biniou. Completely awesome.

Jairam steps up. His word is harmattan, a word for adry dust-laden wind in Africa. Easy enough. Then Nihir follows it up with appetitost.

Two more perfect rounds for Jairam and Nihar. The former nailed ripieno then lerot, while the latter shines on melilot and giallolino.

Now it’s Nihar Janga. He spells cypraeiform correctly (in roughly 20 seconds) and it’s still a two-horse race.

Jairam Hathwar back up again. His word is achalasia, the failure of a ring of muscle to relax. Slight work for the New Yorker, who nails it.

Jairam Hathwar steps up. His word is geländesprung, which is a jump, usually over an obstacle, in which one plants both poles in the snow in advance of the skis, bends close to the ground, and propels oneself chiefly by the use of the poles. Nails it. But Nihar Janga follows with a correct spelling of schepen, a type of municipal officer in Holland. On to another round.

Snehaa Ganesh Kumar steps forward to begin Round 16. The word is usucapion, a mode of acquiring title to property by uninterrupted possession of it for a definite period (as one year for movables or two for immovables) under a title acquired in good faith. A tricky one. She asks for all the information. Then asks for all of the information again. Time running low. “U-S” she begins ... then follows with an ‘i’ instead of the ‘u’ that was necessary. The end is near!

Jairam Hathwar is up. He correctly spells launeddas, a Sardinian triple clarinet, because of course. Nihar Janga follows it with a correct spelling of berceuse and Round 15 is done and dusted.

Now it’s Sylvie Lamontagne’s turn. She lets out a deep breath when she gets to the mic. Her word is chaoborine. Tough one! She spells in her routine burst-like fashion but omits the crucial ‘i’ and hears the dreaded bell. Only three left!

Snehaa Ganesh Kumar begins the next round. Her task is nasaump, an Algonquin word meaning kernels of hulled corn. Nails it.

Now it’s Nihar Janga’s turn. Quillon is the word, the crossguard on a sword. Seems like he doesn’t know it. But he does! Raises his arm to the sky in celebration and practically skips back to his seat.

Jairam Hathwar is next. His word is Collyridian, one of a heretical sect in the 4th and 5th centuries chiefly in Arabia that employed women as priestesses to offer sacrifices in the form of rolls of bread to the Virgin Mary. Starts to spell, then asks to start over. Uh-oh. Nerves perhaps? Begins to spell it again and powers through. No bell! He lives to fight another round.

Snehaa Ganesh Kumar is up. Her word is aplustre, the curved ornamented stern of an ancient Greek or Roman ship. No problem for the 13-year-old from California. Sylvie Lamontagne matches her with a correct spelling of ekka, a light two-wheeled, one-horse, one-passenger carriage used in India.

Jairam Hathwar is next. His word is caracal, a type of cat found in Africa and Asia, and he nails it. Nihar Janga follows with a correct spelling of bailliage and it’s another perfect round in the books.

Snehaa Ganesh Kumar begins Round 13. The word is poitrel, a medieval often richly decorated piece of armor used to protect the breast of a horse. No problem for the eighth-grader. Clinical. Sylvie Lamontagne follows with a correct spelling of kakiemon, a type of Japanese porcelain.

Nihar Janga is up. His word is gisant – a recumbent effigy on a tomb depicting a prominent deceased person in the process of dying or as a corpse – and he spells it quickly. The four remaining contestants simply breezed through that round, as if to say, “Challenge us!”

Jairam Hathwar rises and walks to the mic. His word is epergne, an ornamental centerpiece for a dining table, typically used for holding fruit or flowers. Automatic. Seems like these four could go all night.

Sylvie Lamontagne is next. Her word is shubunkin, a goldfish of an ornamental variety, having black spots, red patches, and long fins and tail. She knows it and wastes no time, deliberately spelling it out with more than a minute to spare.

Snehaa Ganesh Kumar takes the mic to start Round 12. Her word is prochoos, a tall slender ancient Greek jug used especially to hold water for washing hands.

P-R-O-C-H-O-O-S

Confident. Composed. The poise of a veteran.

Nihar Janga rises to close out Round 11. His word is iiwi, a Hawaiian honeycreeper with a long, down-curved bill and mainly bright red plumage. This one could be hard. Could be, but not for Janga. On to Round 12.

Smrithi Upadhyayula is up. Her word is theriaca, an antidote to poison. Ooh, this is a tough one. She appears to have no idea. And she misses, adding on an unnecessary silent ‘P’ at the start. Four more left.

Now it’s Jairam. Calamistrum is his word. A piece of cake.

Sylvie Lamontagne is next. Her word is ptyalism, defined as an excessive production of saliva. No problem for the Colorado native.