KUALA LUMPUR: Ten-year-old Ahmad Irfan Jamaluddin Abdullah emerged tops in the RHB-New Straits Times National Spell-It-Right (SIR) Challenge in the primary school category, despite being the youngest among the finalists.
Irfan, from SK La Salle in Ipoh, cooly spelt "plenipotentiary" to eliminate defending champion Sidessh Sivalingam and Iman Hariz Shahrizal who took second and third place respectively.
His win came as a surprise although before spelling his winning work he was teased for striking a "pose to win the SIR challenge" by presenter Anita Woo Ibrahim.
Irfan won RM5,000 in cash and an Apple IPad Pro tablet.
The event was also intensified with a three round tie breaker session for second place between Sidessh and Iman.
Sidessh, a seasoned speller from SK Bukit Damansara, here and Iman, the crowd favourite from SK Rantau Petronas in Terengganu, were drawn against each other by spelling two words correctly.
However Sidessh won the sudden death round by a spot on spelling “rejectamenta” while Iman stumbled on “curmudgeon”.
Sidessh won RM4,000 and Iman RM3,000 in cash respectively. They also won a laptop each.
Fourth place winner Muhammad Zainal Arshad from SK Sri Kiambang, Kelantan and fifth place winner G. Sharvah from SK Convent Greenlane, Penang won RM2,000 and RM1,000 respectively. All of them went home with trophies.
After the event Irfan told the New Straits Times that he was looking forward to taking part in the competition again.
The Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events fan drew his inspiration from his parents and teachers.
"I still can't believe it I'm pinching myself," said the Standard Four Pupil who was itching to text his friends.
"This is my first time qualifying to the finals I joined last year but I only made it to the top 100," said Irfan.
He is now eager to join the competition next year.
His parents Shahnaz Zainal Adnan and Jamaluddin Yusof were also reeling from shock.
"He has always had a knack for spelling so I told him to try his luck didn't expect him to make it so far. The competition is so great and the words are unbelievably hard," said Shahnaz Zainal Adnan who is an English Language teaching consultant.
Sidessh, 11, also said that he may join the competition next year, despite it being his Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) year.
"I felt a lot of pressure at first and the words were hard but Irfan is probably the smartest 10-year-old ever," he said, good-naturedly taking his defeat.
His mother Gurmeet Sivalingam who teased her son for not preparing enough also revealed that he had taken the SIR online spelling challenge without telling anyone.
"He only told us only when he qualified within the top 100," she added.
Meanwhile Iman's mother Maziyatul Hana Arawi said she was now considering training her other children to participate.