Shrey Parikh Wins Scripps Bee With 32-25 Lightning Tiebreaker Victory

35 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · May 29

Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, captured the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday by spelling 32 words in a 90-second spell-off, beating Ishaan Gupta’s 25.
The title was decided only after a high-level final stayed deadlocked; finalists opened 18-for-18 before mistakes thinned the field and set up the tiebreaker.
Parikh arrived as a favorite after finishing third in 2024 and then dominating top online competitions, backed by coaches including Sam Evans and 2019 co-champion Sohum Sukhatankar.
Ishaan Gupta, 12, finished second after outperforming veteran spellers and still has a year of eligibility left, while Sarv Dharavane, 12, placed third for the second straight year.
The result extends a recent pattern of near-winners breaking through: last year’s champion Faizan Zaki had been runner-up two years earlier, and this year’s winner was that same contest’s third-place finisher.

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