Faizan Zaki overcomes shocking flub, wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee
Share this @internewscast.com

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Faizan Zaki’s passion for spelling almost got the best of him. Yet, his cheerful demeanor ultimately led him to victory as the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

After finishing as the runner-up last year without misspelling any words in the standard rounds—only to get edged out in a lightning-round tiebreaker he hadn’t prepared for—Faizan entered as the favorite. Wearing a nonchalant attitude, clad in a black hoodie, the shaggy-haired speller approached the microphone, delivering his words with an effortless charm.

During Thursday night’s finals, the 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, carried the aura of a champion-in-the-making. Despite nearly jeopardizing his chance with an unexpected show of overconfidence, he managed to secure the title of the top speller in the English language.

Faizan Zaki, 13, of Dallas, holds the trophy after winning the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

With the bee down to three spellers, Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane missed their words back-to-back, putting Faizan two words away from victory. The first was “commelina,” but instead of asking the requisite questions — definition, language of origin — to make sure he knew it, Faizan let his showman’s instincts take over.

“K-A-M,” he said, then stopped himself. “OK, let me do this. Oh, shoot!”

“Just ring the bell,” he told head judge Mary Brooks, who obliged.

“So now you know what happens,” Brooks said, and the other two spellers returned to the stage.

Later, standing next to the trophy with confetti at his feet, Faizan said: “I’m definitely going to be having nightmares about that tonight.”

Even pronouncer Jacques Bailly tried to slow Faizan down before his winning word, “eclaircissement,” but Faizan didn’t ask a single question before spelling it correctly, and he pumped his fists and collapsed to the stage after saying the final letter.

The bee celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, and Faizan may be the first champion who’s remembered more for a word he got wrong than one he got right.

“I think he cared too much about his aura,” said Bruhat Soma, Faizan’s buddy who beat him in the “spell-off” tiebreaker last year.

Faizan had a more nuanced explanation: After not preparing for the spell-off last year, he overcorrected, emphasizing speed during his study sessions.

Although Bruhat was fast last year when he needed to be, he followed the familiar playbook for champion spellers: asking thorough questions, spelling slowly and metronomically, showing little emotion. Those are among the hallmarks of well-coached spellers, and Faizan had three coaches: Scott Remer, Sam Evans and Sohum Sukhantankar.

None of them could turn Faizan into a robot on stage.

“He’s crazy. He’s having a good time, and he’s doing what he loves, which is spelling,” Evans said.

Said Zaki Anwar, Faizan’s father: “He’s the GOAT. I actually believe that. He’s really good, man. He’s been doing it for so long, and he knows the dictionary in and out.”

A thrilling centennial

After last year’s bee had little drama before an abrupt move to the spell-off, Scripps tweaked the competition rules, giving judges more leeway to let the competition play out before going to the tiebreaker. The nine finalists delivered.

During one stretch, six spellers got 28 consecutive words right, and there were three perfect rounds during the finals. The last time there was a single perfect round was the infamous 2019 bee, which ended in an eight-way tie.

Sarv, an 11-year-old fifth-grader from Dunwoody, Georgia, who ultimately finished third, would have been the youngest champion since Nihar Janga in 2016. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

The most poised and mature of the final three, Sarvadnya — who’s from Visalia, California — ends his career as the runner-up. He’s 14 and in the eighth grade, which means he has aged out of the competition. It’s not a bad way to go out, considering that Faizan became just the fifth runner-up in a century to come back and win, and the first since Sean Conley in 2001.

Including Faizan, whose parents emigrated from southern India, 30 of the past 36 champions have been Indian American, a run that began with Nupur Lala’s victory in 1999, which was later featured in the documentary “Spellbound.” Lala was among the dozens of past champions who attended this year and signed autographs for spellers, families and bee fans to honor the anniversary.

With the winner’s haul of $52,500 added to his second-place prize of $25,000, Faizan increased his bee earnings to $77,500. His big splurge with his winnings last year? A $1,500 Rubik’s cube with 21 squares on each side. This time, he said he’d donate a large portion of his winnings to charity.

The bee began in 1925 when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. For the past 14 years, Scripps has hosted the competition at a convention center just outside the nation’s capital, but the bee returns downtown next year to Constitution Hall, a nearly century-old concert venue near the White House.

A passionate champion

Faizan has been spelling for more than half his life. He competed in the 2019 bee as a 7-year-old, getting in through a wild-card program that has since been discontinued. He qualified again in 2023 and made the semifinals before last year’s second-place finish.

“One thing that differentiates him is he really has a passion for this. In his free time, when he’s not studying for the bee, he’s literally looking up archaic, obsolete words that have no chance of being asked,” Bruhat said. “I don’t think he cares as much about the title as his passion for language and words.”

Faizan had no regrets about showing that enthusiasm, even though it nearly cost him.

“No offense to Bruhat, but I think he really took the bee a little too seriously,” Faizan said. “I decided to have fun with this bee, and I did well, and here I am.”

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Texas Flood Leaves 24 Dead, Two Dozen Girls Unaccounted for at Camp

The Kerr County Sheriff in Texas stated Friday night that flash floods…

Eight Men Deported to South Sudan by US After Lengthy Legal Disputes

WASHINGTON (AP) — In May, eight men were deported from the United…

Discovery of Human Remains at California Fireworks Warehouse Explosion Site

Officials reported that human remains have been discovered at the location of…

Champaign Library Holds Discussion on Reducing Youth Violence

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — In Champaign, the community came together Thursday night…

Paxton’s 41st Annual Traditional Fourth of July Celebration

More than 700 attendees gathered at Pells Park in Paxton to celebrate…

Breaking News: Arrest Warrants Issued in Oglethorpe Mall Shooting by SPD

SAVANNAH, Ga. () – The Savannah Police Department, alongside the Chatham County…

Storm Team 3: Monitoring Tropical Activity This Weekend

This weekend, the primary influence on our weather will be Tropical Depression…

AT&T Reaches $177M Settlement Over Data Breaches: Key Information You Need to Know

If you were affected by two significant data breaches involving AT&T customers,…

Storm Team 3: Monitoring Chantal & Local Effects Expected

Passing showers will continue tonight into Sunday. Winds will remain breezy, but…

Texas Flooding Results in 24 Deaths; Several Young Campers Reported Missing

(NewsNation) — The Kerr County sheriff in Texas reported on Friday night…

Sweet Success: Florida Resident Wins Key Lime Pie Eating Contest

KEY WEST, Fla. – Coney Island’s moment in the spotlight is taking…

DUI Arrest and Two Hospitalized After Multi-Vehicle Crash in Savoy

SAVOY, Ill. (WCIA) — On the Fourth of July, a driver was…