Who is Harini Logan? The Indian-origin teen who won Spelling Bee 2022

Spelling Bee: Harini Logan's final winning word was "moorhen"-- a kind of water bird. (Image credit: @ScrippsBee/Twitter)

Harini Logan, a teenager of Indian origin, has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2022. The 14-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, won the spelling competition in the first-ever lightning-round tiebreaker.

The eighth-grader correctly spelt 22 words in the historic spell-off, the Scripps National Spelling Bee tweeted. Her final winning word was 'moorhen' - a noun that defines the female of the red grouse.

Also Read: Indian-origin teen Harini Logan wins Spelling Bee 2022

The final two competitors, Vikram Raju and Harini Logan, had trouble in spelling their words between round 13 and 18. At that point, the judges opted to institute the first spell-off – 90 seconds to spell as many words as possible correctly, and the winner would win the Bee. Logan spelled 22 words correctly, compared to Raju's 15, to become the 2022 champion.

A few words among those that Logan spelled correctly are 'sereh'—a fragrant grass of southern Asia, 'charadriiform'—of or relating to an order of birds including the shorebirds, auks, gulls, and 'ditalini'—short elbow-shaped pieces of macaroni.

Logan draws inspiration from Kamala Harris - the first Indian-origin US Vice-President - and says that it takes a village to build up a speller, according to Scripps National Spelling Bee 2022.

She is the fifth Scripps champion to be coached by Grace Walters, a former speller, fellow Texan and student at Rice University who is considering bowing out of the coaching business.

Logan took home the $50,000 cash prize and Scripps Cup on top of awards from Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica, reported USA Today.

Our 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion #Speller231 Harini Logan draws inspiration from VP @KamalaHarris. After tonight, Harini is inspiring a new generation of spellers everywhere. She says it takes a village to build up a speller. Hers is happy tonight. #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/m3RNiM2qvl

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— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 3, 2022