TRIUMPHANT TRIO: Shivangi Sharma (centre), Anurag Vechuri and Kartick Pranav who won the first, second and third prize respectively in the Spelling Bee contest in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad: Avalanche. Glycerine. Bronchitis. Equinox. Try spelling them. One is sure to slip somewhere. Easier said than spelled.

Tricky words aren't they? But school kids surprised everyone getting most of them right at one go.

The national `Spelling Bee' contest organised by Annapurna here on Saturday brought out the latent talent of children.

They had a gala time cracking even tongue-twisters.

The quiz held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan by the popular salt brand drew enthusiastic response from about 500 students from 25 schools.

Mind-boggling

Unlike the usual contests, this one was different. The kids had to either write or spell out the words. It was a mind-boggling session all the way with Giri Balasubramaniam picking their brains.

After a 20-word spelling written test, 12 students were picked up. They went through two semi-finals to make it to the final.

Jackpot

The five-round final was a stormy affair. The words flew thick and fast.

Some hit the jackpot every time they spelled a word. Some faltered, some had narrow misses.

All in all it was an exciting session. As the going got tough, the pressure began to tell on the contestants and some of them spelled even simple words wrong.

But a bundle of nerves - they were certainly not.

Tough fight

It was a quiz beyond academics. Fun apart the programme was a learning experience to many in the audience too.

The children's fortunes kept fluctuating. But Shivangi Sharma of Meridian School put up a brave fight.

She was the only girl among the six finalists and she walked away with top honours.

What's more she is just a sixth standard student while all others were a class above her.

The second and third prizes went to Anurag Vechuri and Kartick Pranav of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jubilee Hills.

Mental ability

The mental ability of the contestants was tested in many different ways.

In one particular round they were asked to come up with the word from the meaning flashed on screen and then spell it correctly.

Then the kids were made to spell words starting from their chosen alphabets.

They were simple words like design, drown to aperture, pseudonym.

Scholarships

The first three winners were also awarded scholarships of Rs. 5000, Rs. 3000 and Rs. 2000.

However, the cheques and certificates were not handed over immediately as the organisers didn't want to get the winners names wrong.

That's one thing they couldn't afford at a spelling contest.

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