Ladies stole the show at the 2nd semi final competition last week, when four young ladies from a group of 50 mixed contestants succeeded at the CIMA Spellmaster, the all island schools spelling competition organised by CIMA.

Students from Ave Maria Convent Negombo, Sacred Heart Convent Galle, Vishaka Balika Madhya Maha Vidyalaya Bandarawela and Holy Family Convent Jaffna qualified for the top 20 spots in the competition.
In the competition where only 4 students could make it to the top 20 from a group of 50, the competition spanned five rounds, with 13 contestants getting both words given to them in the first round correct. At the end of the second round, 9 contestants emerged. In a strange series of events, contestants number 7, 8 and 9, namely, M.M.S. Perera of Ave Maria Convent Negombo, Mulaika Mafaz of Sacred Heart Convent Galle, and Nilakshi Prasadika Gunathilake of Vishaka Balika Madhya Maha Vidyalaya Bandarawela, were the only spellers to spell the word accurately and automatically secured 3 spots to the Top 20. With just 1 spot remaining and 6 contestants still competing, the tension and excitement could be seen not just in their faces but in the audience as well.

It was a battle of nerves for the six spellers in the fourth round, with all of them trying their best to spell correctly. S. Aarabi of Holy Family Convent Jaffna and Rehana Dole of St.Bridget's Convent Colombo 7 were the only two contestants who spelt the words "Gerontologist" and "Keister", respectively, given to them correct. The two girls took the stage, Aarabi was given the word "Orthopaedics" and spelled it spot on, Rehana got the word "Amelioration" and spelt it "Amilioration", misspelling by one letter. Which meant Aarabi secured the last seat available in this competition to the Top 20.

On qualifying to the Top 20, Mulaika Mafaz of Sacred Heart Convent Galle said "I am overjoyed! Spellmaster is very competitive but makes us learn spelling in a way that is fun because most of us are very careless." M.M.S. Perera of Ave Maria Convent Negombo had this to say, "It is a great opportunity for all of us, especially Sri Lankans because we rarely go through the dictionary".

"This is an inspiration for me to come from Jaffna and I'm really excited because I didn't expect to be selected till the last minute. I'd like to tell the children in Jaffna to participate in this kind of competition next year also", declared S. Aarabi of Holy Family Convent Jaffna.

Eight places have been taken up in the finals of Top 20; watch Sirasa TV this Sunday at 6 pm as another group of 50 contestants vie in the 3rd semi final competition.