The 2014 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee Champion Announced

13-year Old Gokul Venkatachalam From Chesterfield, MO, Clinches the Title

NEW JERSEY: Gokul Venkatachalam correctly spelled the word ‘becquerel’ during the 2014 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee Finals to clinch the title of National Champion. During the event on August 15, which was taped live for broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television, Gokul along with 23 other finalists competed for the title. Vanya Shivashankar from Olathe, KS, and Ananya Kodali from Highland Village, TX, were National Runners-Up.

Twenty-four top spellers from the 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, one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Sony Entertainment Television is the exclusive rights holder and will broadcast the event across the globe in over 119 countries.

Food major Kawan Food and education company C2Education were on board as associate 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 Gokul 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 Sriram Hathwar, 2013 South Asian Spelling Bee National Champion and 2014 Scripps National Co-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.
“MetLife congratulates all the winners on a job well done, especially Gokul Venkatachalam, our new national champion,” says Laurel Daring, assistant vice president, Diverse Markets, MetLife.  “We want to thank all the students and families who participated in the Bee, which remains an important part of our commitment to the South Asian market, and we look forward to another great year in 2015.”

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.
“In the 7th year of our association as founding sponsors of the South Asian Spelling Bee, we are witnessing steep growth in amazing new talent year after year and look forward to Sony Entertainment Television, Asia’s continued support of this brilliant initiative”, says Jaideep Janakiram, SVP International Business- Head of North America for Sony Entertainment Network”.

Says Timothy Tan, Director, International Business, Kawan Food, “I’m so happy to have been able to watch the finale of The MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee. Its great to see how integrated and involved the entire family gets in preparing to be a part of the Bee. Kawan is a proud sponsor and we are looking forward to being involved at a deeper level to connect with families across the US.’”

“C2 Education would like to congratulate all of the 2014 South Asian Spelling Bee contestants that participated in this wonderful program.  C2 Education is very proud to be a supporter and associated with the South Asian Spelling Bee over the past three years”, says Steven Helgeson, National Sales Director, C2 Education.

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-expense-paid trip to the finals in New Jersey. 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 2015 schedule will be announced in October this year.
For further information and to keep abreast with the upcoming events, log onto www.southasianspellingbee.com.
Facebook: South Asian Spelling Bee and Twitter: Spell South Asian.