By NewsGram Staff Writer

Sydney: According to media reports, on Wednesday, a nine-year-old Indian-origin boy won the first edition of 'The Great Australian Spelling Bee' contest.

Herald Sun newspaper reported that the boy, Anirudh Kathirvel won the competition on September 7 after he correctly spelled words such as exorbitant, continuum, Guernsey, ricochet and camaraderie.

Kathirvel beat his five opponents Harpit, Harrison, Marko, Mica and Grace to bag the title and won 50,000 Australian dollars (Rs 23.5 lakhs) as education scholarship.

While another Indian-origin participant Harpit, and Marko were knocked out in the first challenge, Speed Spell- a fast-paced spelling bee, Harrison and Mica lost the second round. Kathirvel and Grace moved to the final round.

After a close fight, Kathirvel emerged as the winner as Grace stumbled on the word 'ratatouille'.

"I need to rub my eyes and see if this is a dream! Rub, rub, rub – nope!" Kathirvel exclaimed.

"He is a very down-to-earth boy," Kathirvel's mother Sujatha said, adding: "All the children on the show were very supportive of each other even though they were competing. They have become good friends."

Kathirvel considers Albert Einstein as his hero and he dubbed the competition as "nerve-racking".

"I was nervous at first but I knew that nervousness would only make me let myself down, so I pushed it away," he said.

(With inputs from IANS)