NATIONAL BEE Written test trips up Vindy speller

By BEVERLY T. GOODEN
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
WASHINGTON -- Spell triskaidekaphobia.
It may seem easy when you have the word written on paper in front of you. But for 265 young spellers, this is an example of the many words they had to spell without any hints this week.
In an intense 90-minute round of spelling, Anoopdeep Singh Bal, 13, of Canfield, managed to quickly and correctly spell litotes Wednesday morning. Wearing a striped polo shirt and dress slacks, the Vindicator Regional Spelling Bee champion remained calm as spellers around him fumbled over their words. Litotes means an understatement for effect.
"I just sit there and wait," Anoopdeep said. "I am enjoying everything."
A tough test
Despite that, Anoopdeep was eliminated from the 77th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. In addition to the oral round, spellers were graded on a written 25-word test they took Tuesday morning.
"I did not do well. It was hard," Anoopdeep admitted.
National Spelling Bee rules provide that spellers advance to Round 3 depending on how they did on both the written test and the second-round word. Anoopdeep fell one word short of moving to Round 3.
A seventh-grader at Canfield Village Middle School, Anoopdeep is not only a local champion speller of words in the English language, but he is also fluent in Punjabi. He is a basketball player and an award-winning musician.
This was Anoopdeep's first appearance in the national bee.
Anoopdeep and his family flew to Washington, D.C., Sunday for the competition. Spelling bee coordinators have kept the pupils entertained with activities all week, including cookouts and games.
Dr. Surjit K. Bal, Anoopdeep's mother, came to Washington with him, along with his father, brother and several other family members.
"We are very, very proud of him," she said.
Out of the 265 contestants in the competition, only 94 went on to compete in Round 3. The finals were today.
About the bee
The 77th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee is open to pupils who have not reached their 16th birthdays or finished the eighth grade.
The competition consists of five rounds, which included the written test, followed by four oral rounds. Selecting the 850 words for the final list began nearly one year before the list was used in competition.
Although Anoopdeep did not make it to the finals, he still looks forward to a bright future.
"I want to be an architect when I grow up," he said.
Helen Paes, Vindicator Regional Spelling Bee coordinator and director of community affairs, said, "Anoopdeep is a very remarkable young man who has demonstrated discipline and determination in his preparation for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He has represented The Vindicator and the region in a very positive way. This will not be the last time we will read about his successes in The Vindicator."