Update:
Kavya Shivashankar is Spelling Bee 2009 Champion

Folks, two rounds of the Spelling Bee 2009 are already over.

And so far, our desi kids have covered themselves with glory.

As we type this post, Round Three is going on in Washington DC .

There are at least 31 Desi students among the 293 contestants who cleared Round 2 of the 2009 Scripps Spelling Bee Contest.

Of the 30, 11 are girls.

Here are some other details about the 30 desi contestants - two contestants are nine-years-old, two are 10, one is 11, seven are 12-years-old, 17 are 13 and two are aged 14.

Siddharth Anand and Kavya ShivaShankar, who won the second place and fourth place respectively in the 2008 Spelling Bee contest, have cleared the Round 2 contest of 2009 Scripps Spelling Bee.

Kavya ShivaShankar is considered the hot favorite to win the 2009 Spelling Bee Championship. But you never can tell.

Here are details of the 28 desi kids who are now into Round Three:

1) Speller No. 19: Ramya Auroprem
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: humorous
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Joaquin Miller Middle School, San Jose, CA
Sponsor: San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA

2)Speller No. 49: Rahul Ramesh Malayappan
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: deficiency
Age, Grade: 9, Fifth Grade
School: Stadley Rough Elementary School, Danbury, Connecticut
Sponsor: The News-Times, Danbury, Connecticut

3)Speller No. 76: Sanjay Venkata Kottapalli
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: medallion
Age, Grade: 12, Sixth Grade
School: Clarendon Hills Middle School, Clarendon Hills, Illinois
Sponsor: Commonwealth Edison, Chicago, Illinois

4)Speller No. 87: Vignessh Kumar
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: dexterity
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Wilson Middle School, Moline, Illinois
Sponsor: The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus, Moline, Illinoi

5)Speller No. 89: Aishwarya Eshwar Pastapur
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: horrific
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Glenwood Middle School, Chatham, Illinois
Sponsor: The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Illinois

6)Speller No. 91: Rohan Dasika
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: horrific
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Aptakisic Junior High School, Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Sponsor: Lake County News-Sun, Waukegan, Illinois

7)Speller No. 97: Vaibhav S. Vavilala
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: philharmonic
Age, Grade: 14, Eighth Grade
School: Creekside Middle School, Carmel, Indiana
Sponsor: The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana

8)Speller No. 110: Kavya Shivashankar
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: disciples
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: California Trail Junior High School, Olathe, Kansas
Sponsor: The Olathe News, Olathe, Kansas

9) Speller No. 118: Harshit Sarin
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: accountant
Age, Grade: 12, Seventh Grade
School: Pikesville Middle School, Baltimore, Maryland
Sponsor: Empowerment M.I.N.D.S., Baltimore, Maryland

10) Speller No. 139: Sidharth Chand
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: chaotic
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills, Michigan
Sponsor: The Oakland Press, Pontiac, Michigan

11) Speller No. 158, Tussah Heera
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: crocus
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Home School, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sponsor:Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas, Nevada

12) Speller No. 159: Avvinash Radakrishnan
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: linoleum
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Academy of Science & Design, Merrimack, New Hampshire
Sponsor: New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, New Hampshire

13) Speller No. 162: Eesha Anagha Ramanujam
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: recurrence
Age, Grade: 12, Eighth Grade
School: Ocean Township Intermediate School, Ocean Township, New Jersey
Sponsor: Asbury Park Press/Home News Tribune, Neptune,
New Jersey

14) Speller No. 164: Shyamala Ramakrishna
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: cannibal
Age, Grade: 12, Eighth Grade
School: Ocean Township Intermediate School, Ocean Township, New Jersey
Sponsor: Asbury Park Press/Home News Tribune, Neptune, New Jersey

15) Speller No. 169: Sriram Jagadeesh Hathwar
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: porcupine
Age, Grade: 9, Third Grade
School: Chemung Valley Montessori School, Big Flats, New York
Sponsor: The Leader, Corning, NY

16) Speller No. 170: Neetu Chandak
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: tribunal
Age, Grade: 13, Seventh Grade
School: Seneca Falls Middle School, Seneca Falls, New York
Sponsor: Finger Lakes Times, Geneva, New York

17) Speller No. 183: Siraj Sindhu
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: leprosy
Age, Grade: 14, Eighth Grade
School: Case Middle School, Watertown , New York
Sponsor: Watertown Daily Times, Watertown, New York

18) Speller No. 186: Vaibhav Shrishail
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: advocate
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Community House Middle School, Charlotte, North Carolina
Sponsor: The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina

19) Speller No. 187: Nivesh Varma
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: convertible
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Harnett Central Middle School, Angier, North Carolina
Sponsor: Harnett County Business/Education Partnership, Dunn, North Carolina

20) Speller No. 201: Anamika Veeramani
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: delegate
Age, Grade: 13, Seventh Grade
School: Incarnate Word Academy, Parma Heights, Ohio
Sponsor: The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

21) Speller No. 223: Neel Mehta
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: delegate
Age, Grade: 13, Seventh Grade
School: Arcola Intermediate School, Eagleville, Pennsylvania
Sponsor: The Times Herald, Norristown, Pennsylvania

22) Speller No. 223: Sukanya Roy
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: lacerate
Age, Grade: 12, Sixth Grade
School: Abington Heights Middle School, Newton Ransom, Pennsylvania
Sponsor: Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

23) Speller No. 242: Tanay Patri
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: heroine
Age, Grade: 11, Fifth Grade
School: Hickory Valley Christian School, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Sponsor: Chattanooga Times Free Press, Chattanooga, Tennesse

24) Speller No. 245: Gina Pradipkumar Kapadia
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: mariner
Age, Grade: 12, Seventh Grade
School: Dexter Middle School, Cordova, Tennesse
Sponsor: The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee

25) Speller No. 249: Akshay Krishna Raghuram
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: salmon
Age, Grade: 10, Sixth Grade
School: Bonham Middle School, Amarillo, Texas
Sponsor: Amarillo Globe-News, Amarillo, Texas

26) Speller No. 251: Mouctika L. Paluri
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: chisel
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Creek Valley Middle School, Carrollton, Texas
Sponsor: The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas

27) Speller No. 255: Aditya Chemudupaty
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: diabetes
Age, Grade: 12, Seventh Grade
School: Nolan Ryan Junior High School, Pearland, Texa
Sponsor: HoustonPBS, Houston, Texas

28) Speller No. 261: Rohit Balachandar
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: hydrant
Age, Grade: 10, Fifth Grade
School: Encino Park Elementary School, San Antonio, Texas
Sponsor: San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, Texas

29) Speller No. 279: Rahil Patel
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: obscene
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Richlands Middle School, Richlands, Virginia
Sponsor: Tazewell County Fair Association, Tazewell, Virginia

30) Speller No. 286: Sai S. Nelanuthala
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: purification
Age, Grade: 13, Eighth Grade
School: Bridgeport Middle School, Bridgeport, West Virginia
Sponsor: The Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram, Clarksburg, West Virginia

31) Speller No. 292: Rajat Singh
Round 2 Spelling Bee Word: habitual
Age, Grade: 13, Seventh Grade
School: Academy for Technology and the Classics, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sponsor: The Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque , New Mexico

Balu Natarajan of Chicago became the first Indian-American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1985.

Since 1985, seven other Indian-Americans have won the Spelling Bee: Rageshree Ramachandran (1988), Nupur Lala (1999), George Thampy (2000), Pratyush Buddiga (2002), Sai Gunturi (2003), Anurag Kashyap (2005) and Sameer Mishra (2008).

Related Stories:
7 Desis Make it to Spelling Bee 2009 Finals
Statistic of the Day – Desis in Spelling Bee 2009
15 Desis Make it to Spelling Bee 2009 Semifinals
Sameer Mishra Wins Spelling Bee

  Spelling Bee