Sriram Hathwar correctly spelled the word ‘phorminx’ during the 2013 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee Finals to clinch the title of National Champion. During the event on August 16, which was taped live for broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television, Sriram along with 23 other finalists competed for the title. Siblings from Pearland TX – Shobha & Shourav Dasari – were National Runners-Up.

Twenty-four top spellers from 12 regional centers gathered at the Rutgers College auditorium to battle it out for the title of champion and a $10,000 Grand Prize from MetLife.

The event was organized by leading South Asian advertising firm, Touchdown Media Inc. and sponsored by MetLife, a leading provider of insurance, employee benefits and other financial services. Sony Entertainment Television is the exclusive rights holder and will be broadcasting the event across the globe in over 119 countries.

Airline major Air-India and education company C2Education have also come on board this year as sponsors for this event.

“An elite group of 24 spellers from across the country gathered here tonight and the contest was tough! The best finally prevailed, so heartiest congratulations to Sriram and all the spellers”, says Rahul Walia, CEO, Touchdown Media Inc. and Founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee.

He also adds “This is a great platform that helps children showcase their talent, hone their skill and inculcate a sense of discipline and discipline that will help in their overall development. I urge parents to take advantage of this unique contest next year.”

The special guest at the Finals was Syamantak Payra, 2012 South Asian Spelling Bee National Champion, who helped co-host a portion of the event.

The champion received a $10,000 grand prize from MetLife along with the South Asian Spelling Bee trophy. The runners-up received tickets to India from Air India.

"MetLife would like to congratulate all the winners, especially Sriram Hathwar, our new national champion," said Laurel Daring, assistant vice president, Diverse Markets, MetLife. "Being the title sponsor of the South Asian Spelling Bee competition has given MetLife the opportunity to play a role in the education of these talented young people whose dedication to furthering their educational goals is an inspiration to everyone.  It is very gratifying to know that Sriram's path to higher education will be assisted by this grand prize -– and that all the participants in the Bee have better prepared themselves for their future through commitment and hard work."

The event was open to children up to 14 years of age and was held in 12 regional centers across the United States. These areas included, New Jersey, DC Metro area, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Seattle, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Bay Area and the newly added Orlando. The contest was conducted in written and oral format at the regional levels which served as the elimination as well as selection process for the finalists.

Jaideep Janakiram, Head – North America, SET Asia commented, “Once again, we are proud to be associated with the Bee and this year, have planned on a series of episodes highlighting the journey of this event since its inception. SONY will be broadcasting a total of six episodes in 2013 giving sponsors, participants and viewers an insightful look at the Bee. SET Asia is always looking to entertain and to involve our international viewers in shows such as the Spelling Bee and look forward to broadcast this exciting event to all its viewers around the globe.”

After registering their child online at www.southasianspellingbee.com, parents brought them to the designated center and a 25 word written test was administered. Children had to spell 15 or more words correctly to qualify for the afternoon oral round and from there the top three were awarded prize money and the top two qualified for the Finals.

From each of these centers, the finalists along with a parent were invited on an all expenses paid trip to the finals in NJ. Overall about 700 children registered to spell amongst all the centers.

The contest will be conducted annually in the June and July months, and the 2014 schedule will be announced in October this year. For more information and to keep abreast with the upcoming events, log onto www.southasianspellingbee.com.

About MetLife:
MetLife, Inc. is a leading global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs, serving 90 million customers. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
 
About Sony Entertainment Television Asia:
Since its launch on the Indian subcontinent in 1995, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has enjoyed rapid success, leading to the establishment of European, North American and African feeds known as SET Asia.  SET and SET Asia are now available in over 150 countries.  The channels offer their viewers a distinctive blend of entertainment programs twenty-four hours a day, including, soap operas, dramas, sitcoms, concerts, movies, and game shows. For more information, visit www.setasia.tv.
 
About Touchdown Media Inc.:
Touchdown Media Inc. is a specialized South Asian advertising and promotions firm based in New Jersey. Now in its 10th successful year, Touchdown has helped clients- both mainstream and otherwise, reach out to the lucrative South Asian market, Touchdown Media represents more than 35 years of collective experience in this niche market. As a full service ad firm, Touchdown has helped many clients achieve their media and marketing goals within the South Asian Diaspora in the US.

The regional winners and runner-ups were:

LA	Name
Regional Champion	Aditya Mishra
2nd Runner-up	Atharva Patil
Bay Area
Regional Champion	Shirlyn Prabahar
1st Runner-up	Neel Kovelamudi
Dallas
Regional Champion	Chetan Reddy
1st Runner-up	Lokesh Nagineni
Houston
Regional Champion	Shobha Dasari
1st Runner-up	Shourav Dasari
Chicago
Regional Champion	Gokul Venkatachalam
1st Runner-up	Sharmita Dixit
Seattle
Regional Champion	Neha Seshadari
1st Runner-up	Siddhanth Chari
Atlanta
Regional Champion	Dev Jaiswal
1st Runner-up	Alina Baiju
Orlando
Regional Champion	Shreya Nidadavolu
1st Runner-up	Siyona Mishra
DC Metro
Regional Champion	Ashwin Veeramani
1st Runner-up	Moses Alexander
New Jersey
Regional Champion	Keerthi Radhakrishnan
1st Runner-up	Swetha Pola
New York
Regional Champion	Aditya Rao
2nd Runner-up	Sriram Hathwar
Boston
Regional Champion	Surabhi Iyer
1st Runner-up	Shakthi Kumaresan

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