Sohum Sukhatankar wins 2018 South Asian Spelling Bee

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On August 2, Sohum Sukhatankar of Dallas, Texas won the 2018 South Asian Spelling Bee with the word “Dasyuridae,” a family of polyprotodont marsupials that includes the native cats, pouched mice, banded anteater, Tasmanian devil, and related forms, along with a cash prize of $3,000.

Abhijay Kodali from Flower Mound, Texas came in second.

The South Asian Spelling Bee is organized by Touchdown Media Inc., a leading multicultural advertising firm, every year.

The event will be broadcast by Sony Entertainment Television Asia in more than 120 countries.

The event was also sponsored by Kawan Foods and featured 2017 South Asian Spelling Bee National Champion Sravanth Malla as well as 2014 South Asian Spelling Bee National Champion Gokul Venkatachalam.

“It fills my heart to see such talented young spellers from across the country who make us proud as a community. The initiative is unique in its reach and engagement and this year with the introduction of the SAS-Bee program we were able to give even more spellers the opportunity to win it all and raise the bar even higher. My heartiest congratulations to the winner,” Rahul Walia, founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee, is quoted saying in a press release.

The South Asian Spelling Bee is for children up to 14 years of age and is held in seven regional centers across the country including New Jersey, Washington D.C., Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco and Charlotte along with Ghana, Africa.

More than 600 spellers participated in which 24 were chosen as finalists.