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Indian-American Faizan Zaki declared 2025 Scripps Spelling Bee Champion

Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old speller from Allen, Texas, has been declared the Champion of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee

Friday May 30, 2025 9:43 PM, Zohair M Safwan Faizee

[Adam Symson, President and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company, presented the Championship Trophy, to Faizan Zaki, (FAY-zahn ZAH-kee) (Image: Scripps)]

Cincinnati (United States): Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old speller from Allen, Texas, has been declared the Champion of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Faizan Zaki won the championship for correctly spelling the word “éclaircissement”.
Faizan’s parents, Zaki Anwar and Arshia Quadri, hail from Hyderabad, India.

Faizan was the runner up in the last year competition. He earned the prestigious title in round 21 when he correctly spelled "éclaircissement," which is defined as "the clearing up of something obscure: enlightenment."

Watch The Winning Moment

This was Zaki's fourth time participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. A 7th grader at C.M. Rice Middle School, he finished second in 2024 in a spell-off to Bruhat Soma.

"Faizan exemplified the determination that defines a champion," said Adam Symson, President and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company, who presented the Championship Trophy, said.

Zaki is only the 5th speller in Bee history to win after coming in 2nd place the year before. He tied for 21st place in 2023 and 370th place in 2019. He was sponsored by the Dallas Sports Commission.

Besides the trophy, Zaki has got the award money of $50,000 from Scripps, and additional $3,900 from other sponsors.

Runner up

Another Indian origin American, Sarvadnya Kadam of Visalia, California, representing Tulare County Office of Education, won the 2nd and will receive $25,000.

Sarv Dharavane of Dunwoody, Georgia, representing Georgia Association of Educators, came 3rd and receives $15,000.

As many as 242 spellers participated in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, United States. The opening session was held on Tuesday May 27 with the final round held today at the same venue.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Launched in 1925, the Bee is America's largest and longest-running educational program.

Spellers represented all 50 states of the USA and the District of Columbia. There were also spellers representing Ghana, Guam, Kuwait, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

(Zohair M Safwan Faizee is Staff Writer at ummid.com)

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