Ladies continued to dominate at the Spellmaster with the 4th Semi finals witnessing 4 young ladies from St.Agnes' Balika Maha Vidyalaya Rantapura, Lyceum International School Nugegoda, Burhani Serendib School and Mahmud Ladies College Kalmunai qualifying for the finals.
Spellers in the competition have revealed that it is not only knowing ones spelling but one needs to be composed and be able to hold your nerve at the crucial moments to be successful. This was not the case for a very hasty Shafni Rifai of Gateway College Colombo who missed out on being part of the Top 20 because as he spelled the first 2 words relatively easily and then decided to relax by rushing in with spellings instead of paying full attention to the balance words, which resulted in him missing out on the final words given to him and making way for the very fortunate Ummeslama S H from Burhani Serendib School the opportunity to compete against some of the finest spellers in the top 20 stage of the competition.
This time around the competition was based a choice as the competitors were given the opportunity to opt for any 2 words from 5 categories, namely, Culture, Science, Nature, Business and General, after which they were offered a pool of 350 words and could pick a number and the corresponding word was given to them.
After the first round of 3 words each were given out 5 participants found themselves qualifying to the next round having answered 2 words correct. However, since only 4 spellers from this round were eligible to move into the Top 20, the competition had to carry on. The first 2 contestants to qualify from these five were W.Indeevarie Gunathilaka from St.Agnes' Balika Maha Vidyalaya Rantapura and K.Fathima Rustha from Mahmud Ladies College Kalmunai who confessed that she never referred the dictionary and thanks to Spellmaster she finally took the initiative and started referring the "biggest book", as she dubbed it.
With 3 spellers on stage and 2 slots remaining the next contestant to get through was the vivacious Nardhya Grero from Lyceum International School Nugegoda, who seemed to be really enjoying the competition in her own style. Commenting on the competition she said it was great to be in the show as the stage set and the ambiance gave her a feeling that she was part of the American Idol. With Nardya qualifying this left Shafni Rifai of Gateway College Colombo and S H Ummeslama from Burhani Serendib battling it out for the last spot in the top 20, where S H. Ummeslama pulled through.
Sri Lankan born CIMA's Global President Aubrey Joachim, who was a special guest at the competition mentioned how he was very impressed with the way the competitors faced the challenges presented to them" and continued to say that CIMA is at the forefront of promoting young talent, adding value to the community, bringing together children from every corner of the island of every religion and race and that everyone participating in the competition is a winner.
The 4 contestants who qualified received gift packs from the sponsors, Imperial College of Business Studies and cash awards.
The spellers who have made it thus far to the top 20 are;
Be sure to watch this exhilarating competition every Saturday on Sirasa TV from 6 pm to 7 pm.
|