The winners

Spellings competitions can be nerve wrecking, fun and entertaining as proved by the 20 spellers who had worked their way through 1,200 students island wide and participating in the inaugural CIMA Spellmaster competition finals sponsored by the Bank of Ceylon and organized by the CIMA Sri Lanka Division, the institute said.

In a competition worked off for the first time at national level, Ronali Perera of Holy Family Convent emerged as the Spellmaster, but it was no easy path as the competition was tense and it took a tie breaker to decide between Ronali and Asmara, the young student from Crescent International School, the statement said.

Ms Perera received a cheque for Rs.100,000; a Toshiba laptop courtesy of John Keells and a full scholarship for CIMA studies from Wisdom Business Academy. As she represented Holy Family Convent, the school received a 21 inch colour TV courtesy of Singer Sri Lanka.

The 1st runner-up, Asmara Agus, received a cheque for Rs.50,000; a desk top computer from Singer and a full scholarship to study CIMA at Imperial Business School. U.Thakshanth all the way from R.K.M.Sri Koneswara Hindu College, Trincomalee received a cheque for Rs.25, 000 and a full scholarship to study CIMA at Imperial Business School. All other contestants received cash prizes and those ranked up to the eight positions received scholarships for CIMA studies from the CIMA Tuition providers Mercury and Achievers as well, the statement said.