KARACHI: They were given 40 seconds on the clock to spell one word. A contestant in the initial20 seconds of those 40 could ask the pronouncer many times to repeat, define or use the word in a sentence to be able to decipher it better and he or she could also discuss it with team members before spelling it out. But pindrop silence was expected once they started spelling.

These were the ground rules being followed at the 10th Dawn in Education Spelling Bee regional competition held in the Arts Council of Karachi auditorium on Tuesday. From the several teams in each age category emerged the winners but wait, it wasn`t that simple. For first the top teams were selected. There were elimination rounds in case of there being more than three.

And the power of three combined to find the individual winners among them.

Though the age categories comprised nine to 11 years, 12 to 14 years and 15 to 17 years, the most interesting round was that of 12-14, where even some grownups in the audience having gotten used to hearing simple words in the nine to 11 category quietly tried to memorise or note down a few words with their meanings as it was the first time that they had heard them.

Meanwhile, some students got confused about single and double `l`,`m` or `g`in the words and made mistakes. It was heartening to see teams from Tando MohammadKhan and Khairpur doing so well also. Also 14-year-old Shajee Ahmed of Fahims School System deserves special praise as he stepped up alone without any team members. `My teammates just didn`t show up. What else could have I done except represent my school,` the young fellow told Dawn after almost making it to the final round. `Pm sure we would have progressed if I had my team`s support.

Then there were also others such as Taha Naseem of BVS Parsi High School who would place his hand over his chest to check if his heart was still beating after a correctly spelled word as his teammates beamed. And Kayan Saeed of Links School would spell with so much confidence that even if he was wrong, it sounded correct. Gaurav Kumar of St Patrick`s High School couldn`t control his delight and chuckled into the microphone before quickly covering his mouth with his hand and looking around sheepishly.

For those who couldn`t do well in the first round, there was also a chance to make up in the `Triple Sting` round, which awarded five bonus points if all the students in a team got all of their three spellings correct. And again when there were more than three top teams, just like the penalty kicks or penalty strokes round to decide the outcomes in football or hockey matches there would be the heartbreaking sudden death elimination rounds. One student would get a spelling wrong and be very worried until the other student from another team wouldalso get it wrong and both would be back in the competition.

Later, Dawn`s director of circulation and coordination Niloufer Patel thanked her team and all involved in the Spelling Bee for 10 years now with a special thanks for the United States Embassy in Islamabad, which had been influential in involving schools from all over the country in the competition and Oxford University Press for sending their editors for judging the competitions. To the students, she said: `One day you will move into practical life where you will experience success and failure and you will learn to lose with dignity and celebrate success gracefully.

The US consul general in Karachi, Brian Heath, who also watched some of the rounds, said he, too, felt the stress level rising in the auditorium. `Hope now everyoneisrelaxedexceptforthe regional winners who will proceed to Islamabad,` he said.

The Spelling Bee at this stage has come down from 830 schools to 40, who would now be competingin the nationalcontests.

`The US consulate,` he said, `is happy to involve more students from all over the country.

Not only is this a fun education opportunity for students, it also helps you with your spelling while increasing your vocabulary to become well-educated and get admission to good colleges. And the US consulate is happy to be playing a role in it.

Results Nine to 11 category: Regionalchampion: Jenna Megan Anthony (Convent of Jesus & Mary); 1st runner up: Izma Arif (Happy Home School), 2nd runner up: Rayyan Faisal (Haque Academy).

12 to 14 category: Regionalchampion: Gaurav Kumar (St Patrick`s High School), 1st runner up: S. Ali Mustafa (River Oaks Academy), 2nd runner up: Abdullah Jahangir (St Patrick`s High School).15 to 17 category: Regional champion:RamaAli(Generation`s School south), 1st runner up: Leila Rasul Khan (Karachi Grammar School college), 2nd runner up: M. Sabih Ashraf (Generation`s School south).