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LOS ANGELES: The 2012 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee has begun its 11 city tour with the first two events in Los Angeles and Bay Area. 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 LA, Samruddhi Hande from San Diego, CA was the regional champ and Sumaita Mulk from Goodyear, AZ was the first runner up while Shreya Nalapati from High Lands Ranch, CO was second runner up. In Bay Area, Surya Auroprem from San Jose, CA was the regional champ and Siddarth Kulkarni from San Jose, CA was first runner up while Rutvik Gandhasri from San Jose, CA was second runner up. “As the title sponsor of the Spelling Bee for the fourth consecutive year, MetLife congratulates all of the families who participated in this year’s event. It was great to have such talented children participate and to share information with the parents about how they can prepare for the rising cost of college,” said Laurel Daring, assistant vice president, MetLife Diverse Markets. 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. There are nine more cities on the anvil. 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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