KOTA BARU: THE state champion and the runner-up of the RHB New Straits Times National Spell-It-Right (SIR) Challenge successfully retained their positions yesterday.
They are Year Six pupil of SK Dato’ Abdul Hamid 2 in Pasir Mas, Umar Farouq Roslan, who emerged as Kelantan champion, and runner-up Nura Husna Abqariyah Muhammad Hanif from SK Zainab 2 here.
Umar became the winner after he spelt the word “infringement” correctly in a tiebreaker round held at KB Mall while Nura spelt the word “embittered”. Both were the champion and the runner-up for last year’s contest which was also held at the mall.
Umar, who took home RM2,000 cash, has the honour of representing his state at the national challenge in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 11.
“With the support given by my parents, teachers and friends, I started to look up for words so that I could answer all the question correctly.
“Hopefully, I can do better at the national level and make the state proud,” said Umar who aspires to be an architect.
It was also a success story for Nura who won RM1,500. She was happy that her efforts in reading more English books helped her in her latest attempt.
Third-placed winner is Arina Nashwa Khairy Shamel of SK Zainab 2 who won RM1,000.
The fourth- and fifth-placed winners are Nur Izzatul Adlina Adenan of Sekolah Rendah Islam Aman Wakaf Bharu and Nurlunn Jannatul Asyharin Hamid Jan of SK Zainab 2 respectively.
They received RM800 and RM500, respectively, while the other state finalists received a consolation prize of RM100 each.