By now, the Spellmaster sensation that's made spelling fun and entertaining has gripped Sri Lanka as a household name. In most households, that is. If yours hasn't seen it yet, you've been missing out on quite a treat. The show in question is the CIMA Spellmaster, aired on Sunday on Sirasa TV between 6 and 7 pm. The main attraction of the show and the feature CIMA is quite proud of, is that it brings together children from all around the country, and places them on a level playing field.

"Extracorporeal", "connivance", "lanthanum", and "endocrinology" are some of the words the contestants had to hurdle at last weekend's third semi final competition, where the next batch of fifty contestants out of the Top 250 competed for 4 seats to the Top 20.

This time around the contestants were given variety with regard to the words. In the 1st round the contestants were required to spell 2 words from a choice of 5 categories made available - Science, Nature, Culture, General and Business. In the 2nd round contestants were given a word out from a pool of words, and the winners been determined based on their success in these rounds.

Given the tough words that came up only eleven contestants made it through the first round by spelling both words correctly. After the 2nd round spellers dropped out drastically and only 5 made it through to the next round, namely, Eksith Weerasekera of Royal College Colombo 7, Piumi.S.Wijesundara of Mahamaya Girls' College Kandy, Vasika.Y.Udurawane of St.Thomas' College Mount Lavinia, M.Pavani Anuththara Fernando of Panadura Balika Maha Vidyalaya and Senuri Sahabandu of Sacred Heart Convent Galle.

Piumi.S.Wijesundara, Vasika.Y.Udurawane, Senuri Sahabandu spelt the words given to them in the 3rd round correctly, securing their seats to the Top 20. Eksith, who had taken part in the competition last year but managed to qualify only up to the Top 100, had one more chance to redeem himself and become eligible for the Top 20 this year. A very nervous Eksith and Pavani took the stage, "Eschatology" was the word given to Eksith, who spelt it correctly and looked quite relieved that he did. Pavani had to spell "Gesundheit"; alas, Pavani misspelt the word given to her, which meant Eksith guaranteed himself the final spot available at this competition for the Top 20. On qualifying he said "I feel extremely happy to get into the top 20. It's a great moment but the nervousness is still there. This competition has improved step by step. I watched the 1st competition and participated again last year. There has been a rapid improvement with regard to the words, selection methods, and number of participants this year."
Twelve places have been taken up in the finals of Top 20; watch Sirasa TV this Sunday at 6 pm as the competition becomes more intense with fewer places remaining to the finals and 50 more contestants battle it out in the 4th semi final competition.

The following are the names and respective schools of the contestants who have qualified to the Top 20 thus far;

Taryana Odayar Stafford International School Colombo
M. Rochelle U. Silva Holy Cross College Gampaha
M.N. Farook Trinity College Kandy
Sandani Vithanage Devi Balika Vidyalaya Colombo
M.M.S. Perera Ave Maria Convent Negombo
Mulaika Mafaz Sacred Heart Convent Galle
Nilakshi Prasadika Gunathilake Vishaka Balika Madhya Maha Vidyalaya Bandarawela
S. Aarabi Holy Family Convent Jaffna
Eksith Weerasekera Royal College Colombo 7
Piumi.S.Wijesundara Mahamaya Girls' College Kandy
Vasika.Y.Udurawane St. Thomas College Mount Lavinia
Senuri Chandula Sahabandu Sacred Heart Convent Galle