It's the final rounds of the competition and contestants have drawn numbers which will stay on with them until the finals. "Contestant number one, your word is flatus", a very tense Nilakshi Gunathilake from Vishaka Balika Madhya Maha Vidyalaya Bandarawela after seconds of dead silence finally begins to gather her nerves and commence spelling, the tension gets in, and she fumbles and gets it incorrect. It's not an easy task being the first up to spell among the top 18 contestants, in the Spellmaster.

In this competition the spellers were given the opportunity to select to choose 2 words from a selection of 5 categories, namely, Science, Culture, Nature, Business and General, followed by a word of their choice from a pool of 50 words. Those who spelled correctly remained in the competition, and those who didn't found themselves closer to being eliminated from the competition. The majority of the students continue to impress at the competition, getting all the words given to them thus far in the competition correct, namely, Nimeshi Dissanayake of Sanghamitta Balika Vidyalaya Galle, Senuri Sahabandu of Sacred Heart Convent Galle, Kumeri Bandara of Girls' High School Kandy, Sheroze Sheriffdeen of Royal College Colombo 7, Archana Perera of St.Peter's College Colombo 4 and Piumi Wijesundara of Mahamaya Girls' College Kandy.

After two rounds of words nine contestants had answered the three words given to them spot on, making them eligible for the next round. This left only 8 spellers to fight for the balance 7 berths in the next round. R.M.R.Ahamed of Baduriya Central College Mawanella spelled only one word correctly at the end of the two rounds automatically disqualifying himself from the competition. On stepping down from the competition he said he was satisfied to come up to the Top 18 but disappointed as there were no more contestants in the competition to represent his school.

The remaining contestants battled it out for another three rounds of words, until two more contestants were left to battle it out for one more seat to the next round, the contestants being, Nilakshi Prasadika Gunathilake of Vishaka Balika Madhya Maha Vidyalaya Bandarawela and Meshini Perera of Ave Maria Convent Negombo. Nilakshi who received the word "addressee" misspelled the word by excluding the last letter, Meshini got the word "folklorist" and spelled it correctly, giving her the opportunity to compete in the next stage of the competition.

On bowing out of the competition, Nilakshi said, "it was not my day today, it was much more competitive today and thought I would get out at the beginning, thanks to my luck I made my way to the Top 18", she continued to say the experience she gained in the competition was worthwhile and thanks to Spellmaster she expanded her vocabulary, and concluded by wishing the Top 16 the best of luck.
Tune into Sirasa TV every Sunday from 6 pm - 7 pm to witness who will be eliminated next and watch the remaining 16 fight it out to remain in the competition till the Spellmaster is selected.

The following are the names of the Top 16:
M.Rochelle U.Silva Holy Cross College Gampaha
Taryana Odayar Stafford International School Colombo
Nimeshi Dissanayake Sanghamitta Balika Vidyalaya Galle
Senuri Chandula SahabanduSacred Heart Convent Galle
Vasika.Y.Udurawane St. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia
S.Kumeri Bandara Girls' High School Kandy
Solomon Rajaram
Hariharan St. John's College Jaffna
J.Aaraby St. Mary's College Trincomalee
Sheroze Sheriffdeen Royal College Colombo 7
J. Archana Perera St. Peter's College Colombo 4
Sandani Vithanage Devi Balika Vidyalaya Colombo
Eksith Weerasekera Royal College Colombo 7
Piumi .S. Wijesundara Mahamaya Girls' College Kandy
Meshini Perera Ave Maria Convent Negombo
S. Aarabi Holy Family Convent Jaffna
M.N. Farook Trinity College Kandy