Sometimes the easiest words are the ones that trip you up. In this case, the word “disa” was the one that eliminated Dunwoody speller Sarv Dharavane, as he finished third in the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28.
Dharavane, a sixth grader at Peachtree Middle School, was perfect through rounds 12-16, as six other finalists fell, leaving him, Shray Parikh, and Ishaan Gupta in a head-to-head-to-head showdown.
The 12-year-old, who in earlier rounds successfully spelled words like “cydnid,” “Kadohadacho,” “Tethyan,” and “kurgan,” misspelled “disa” by inserting an extra “a,” thus eliminating him from the competition in the 17th round.
Parikh, the eventual winner, defeated Gupta two rounds later in a stunning 90-second sudden death showdown, correctly spelling 32 of 35 words to Gupta’s 25 words.
Watch Parikh’s winning run in the spell-off here.
Before the competition, Dharavane told Rough Draft that he was relaxed going into the high-stakes final, having been in this position in 2025, where he finished third.
“I’m pumped up because it’s amazing that I get to go to the finals again,” he said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I did it twice.”
He said he wasn’t doing any extra preparation before hitting the stage, “just relaxing my mind while sharpening my skills.”
Dharavane said that throughout the competition, he knew every word presented to him, which was a confidence boost. He also recorded a perfect score on a written test administered in the third round, which eliminated 72 spellers.
During the interview with Rough Draft, Dharavane was pragmatic about the competition, saying that he knew that if he didn’t win this year, he still had two more years of eligibility.
His mother, Shilpa Tupe, told Rough Draft that the family was matching Sarv’s energy.
“We are relaxed because Sarv is relaxed on the stage, and I mean, he has done his best,” she said. “So let’s see how it goes, but we are not tense or nervous about it. And he has two more years.”
Of the nine finalists, all but one had participated on the national stage – Aiden Meng (T- 58th in 2025), Oliver Halkett (T-60th in 2024 and T-7th in 2025), Parikh (T-89th in 2022, 3rd in 2024), Zwe Spacetime (T-10th in 2025), Gupta (T-20th in 2025), Kushi Gottimukkala (T-20th in 2025), Avushka Dudala (T-41st in 2025), and newcomer Logan Bailey.
In the third round of the finals, Halkett, Spacetime, Dudual, and Meng were eliminated, and Bailey, a crowd favorite, bowed out two rounds later by misspelling “Quincke tube.” Gottimukkala fell in the next round, leaving the trio of spellers to duke it out.
Parikh, as the winner, takes home a $50,000 cash prize, while seventh grader Gupta earns $25,000 and Dharavane, $15,000.
