Scripps National Spelling Bee: Georgia boy makes the f-i-n-a-l-s this year

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Georgia speller is making his back-to-back appearances in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals.

Sarv Dharavane is trying to finish the job after placing third overall in last year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. It’s his third year in a row as the Georgia champion.

The Peachtree Charter Middle School sixth grader advanced to the finals in Wednesday’s rounds and is now one of just nine spellers remaining.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Sreeya Lakkimsetti finished as the Georgia runner-up, but fell short in the seventh round of the national competition in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, earning a tie for 30th place overall.

But we don’t think we could’ve spelled Sreeya’s word either. She misspelled vancomycin, which is an antibiotic.

On Thursday, Sarv will compete against those other eight competitors to win the title.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT FOR SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE?

The Scripps National Spelling Bee’s format consists of a preliminary round, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

The first preliminary round is spelling and the second round is a vocabulary word. A contestant must answer both correctly to advance to the written test.

There are 24 spelling questions worth one point each and six vocabulary questions also worth one point each for a maximum score of 30. Spellers are grouped by their number of correct answers and the field will be narrowed down to around 100 or so quarterfinalists.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee finishes on the big stage with spellers stepping up to the microphone to spell a word or answer a vocab question. If the answer is correct, the speller stays alive in the competition. If it’s wrong, the speller is eliminated. This will repeat until there is a champion.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee can also evoke a “spell-off” for time restrictions. The contestants in the spell-off will have to spell as many words correctly within 90 seconds. Whichever speller has the most correct words or the highest percentage will be the champion.

The format does allow for co-champions. That has happened only seven times in the bee’s history.

WHAT ARE THE SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE PRIZES?

First place: $50,000 cash, Scripps Cup trophy, $2,500 cash and reference library from Merriam-Webster, $400 in reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and $1,000 in Delta flight credits
Second place: $25,000.
Third place: $15,000.
Fourth place: $10,000.
Fifth place: $5,000.
Sixth place: $2,500.
Finalists: $2,000, commemorative medal
Semifinalists: $500 gift card, commemorative medal
Quarterfinalists: $100 gift card, commemorative pin

Format and prize information from Spelling Bee

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]