The original pool of 25 students was quickly whittled to just Sophia and Kush on Saturday.

The programme provides a list of words for contests across the country. Sophia and Kush burned through that list, as well as 20 other words organisers picked from the dictionary when they realised it was possible they might need more words, Thompson said. "The officials were fatigued. The kids weren't tired. They had endless energy and were doing an amazing job," he said.

Kush cannot remember exactly what word was the hardest for him to spell — something French that started with an "R". He said he will work hard for the rematch and would study every free minute of the day if he scores a place in the national bee. "I'm looking forward to seeing how far Sophia can push me and how far my skills can go," he said.

For Sophia, the most difficult word was 'schadenfreude', which describes the enjoyment one can get from someone else's bad luck. She knows how to spell the word, but she apparently does not feel it. "Kush worked really hard. I wish we could both go (to the national competition)," Sophia said.
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