The 2012 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee (www.southasianspellingbee.com) concluded its 11 city tour this past weekend with two events in the New York & Boston areas.

With a huge turnout this year as well, the bee attracted some top talent as well as young and new spellers that competed for the coveted prizes and titles.

“It is very heartening to see that each year we get fresh faces and new talent which is a continuing testimony to our community’s strength in this craft,” said Rahul Walia, Founder - South Asian Spelling Bee.

In New York, Sanjana Malla from Haverstraw, NY was the regional champ and Naman Shankari from East Meadow, NY was the first runner up while Isha Bhahmbhatt from Ardsley, NY was second runner up.

In Boston, Arushi Kalpande from Billerica, MA was the regional champ and Surabhi Iyer from Franklin, MA was first runner up while Pratima Rao from West Bloomfield, MI was second runner up.

“As the title sponsor of the Spelling Bee for the fourth consecutive year, MetLife congratulats all of the families who participated in the competition. It was an honor to help families enjoy this fun event and to share information to  help them prepare for the rising costs of college,” said Anil Lamba, financial advisor with Metropolis Financial Group, an office of MetLife.

The winners received cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200 respectively.

Children up to 14 years of age are eligible to participate and the contest saw spellers of even 6 years of age compete and make it past a few rounds.

The top two winners plus one parent each from every city will be given an all expenses paid trip to NJ on August 17 for the FINALS.

The contest will be telecast globally on Sony Entertainment Television-ASIA.

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