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Two Indian-Americans - Sriram J Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe - today scripted history by becoming co-champions of the famed Scripps National Spelling Bee after a tense final in which they almost exhausted the 25 designated words to end the duel in a tie for the first time in 52 years.
This is the seventh consecutive year that Indian- Americans have retained the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which was watched live by millions of people.
An eighth grader from the Alternative School for Maths and Science, Sriram (14) is from New York, while Ansun (13) is a seventh grader from Texas.
Like last year, the last three contestants were Indian- Americans -- Sriram, Ansun and Gokul Venkatachalam from Missouri.
Both Sriram and Ansun received a USD 30,000 cash prize, an engraved trophy and other gifts.
This is the first time the bee has ended in a tie since 1962, organizers said. The Bee has previously had co-champions in 1962, 1957 and 1950 in its 89-year history.
"It's a dream come true," Sriram said soon after being declared the co-champion with Ansun.
"I was happy when I entered the final. I am even happier that I am the co-champion," said Ansun, who in the last 22nd round correctly spelled "feuilleton", which is defined as "a part of a European newspaper or magazine devoted to material designed to entertain the general reader."
And in the 21st round, Sriram correctly spelled "stichomythia", which is defined as "dialogue especially of altercation or dispute delivered in alternating lines."
This was Sriram's fifth appearance in the competition. He finished third last year and was tied for sixth place in 2011.
This was Ansun's second appearance at the Bee. He did not make the semifinals last year.
"I was pretty disappointed last year," Ansun said. "I did a furious comeback this year. I studied more, a lot."
Ansun and Sriram said they are happy to share the trophy.
"The competition was against the dictionary, not against each other," Sriram said. "Same here," Ansun said.
Once there are three spellers left in a round, the next round begins with a 25-word list. Ordinarily, a winner is declared if one speller misspells and the remaining speller correctly spells two words in a row.
If no winner is declared before the list has been exhausted - or there are not enough words left for two consecutive spellings - co-champions are announced.
Indian-origin people remain unchallenged in the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2008, with Sameer Mishra winning it in 2008, Kavya Shivashankar (2009), Anamika Veeramani (2010), Sukanya Roy (2011), Snigdha Nandipati (2012) and Arvind Mahankali (2013).
