CIMA Spellmaster – Top 16 compete for place in Grand Finale
View(s):Is spelling easy? Most say it never was and so it is for those competing in the final rounds of the Spellmaster. Over the past two weeks we have witnessed four competitors step down from the competition. Now down to the Top 16 it’s difficult to say who will be bowing out as every week 2 competitor’s step down making way for the Top 4. 
Luck and skill play an important part in the competition, as the competitors get to select their categories and numbers and corresponding words given. The only thing a competitor can do is to keep a level head, get as much help from the judges with regard to breaking a word down and getting their relevant meanings and using the skill acquired over the last few months to take a shot at spelling the word correctly.
This time around the competitors got three words in the 1st round of words, one from a selection of 5 categories, namely, Science, Culture, Nature, Business and General, the other consisted of letters of the alphabet except of course the letters, ‘W’, ‘X’, ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ as they had a limited number of words, each letter had a choice of 5 words, and contestants could choose a letter from which a word was given, and finally a number from a pool of words and the corresponding word given.
At the end of the first round, five contestants had spelled all 3 words given to them correctly, six had spelled two words right and five had spelled one word precisely. The eleven contestants who got three or two words correct automatically qualified to the next competition. However, those who got one word right had to compete till two competitors were eliminated. In the consecutive round of words, Lihan Mendis, Fathima Nazlun, Gunaseelan Lidushan and Fahma Fahim spelled the words dished out to them correct. Lithmal 
Jayawardhana however misspelled his word by just one letter and found himself bowing out. On leaving the competition he said it was quite interesting, he made new friends and was a wonderful experience. When asked on what he felt on missing out on a word by just substituting an “s” with a “c” in the word “Lusophone”, he said, “well this is one of those competitions in the entire island which I believe is up to international standards, I’m serious, because I’ve seen spelling bee competitions in USA and I believe this is up to that standard itself” and continued to say, “you get a lot of exposure through this, make new friends and meet new people, at the end of the day it is one the biggest life experiences one can have. I encourage all students out there to participate in this.”
The competition continued for another two rounds until just two contestants were left, Fahma and Lidushan. Lidushan received the first word in that round, the word being “Chromakey”, which he spelt spot on. Fahma’s word was “Gazetteer”, and in the tensed moment she spelled it “Gazettier” and was the 6th contestant to bow out. On her exit she said, she made a silly mistake at the beginning and misspelling “Quadrangular” and “Faustian” when she knew the spellings and wished the others the best.
Five more competitions till the Top 4 are revealed; continue to catch the excitement on Sirasa TV every Sunday at 6pm.
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