Missouri spelling bee runs out of words after marathon duel between Indian-origin boy and American girl Saturday Feb 22,2014

Seventh-grader Kush Sharma and fifth-grader Sophia Hoffman battled in Missouri county's annual spelling bee competition

Kush Sharma, a seventh-grader at Frontier School of Innovation, and Sophia Hoffman, a fifth-grader at Highland Park Elementary, battled in Missouri county's annual spelling bee competition with both of them getting every word right.

Finally, the judges ran out of words and the contest between them will resume on March 8,2014 for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington.

"We did not want to just go through the dictionary and give them more words. We feared that someone would get a word that was too easy while the other would get an extremely difficult word," said Mary Olive Thompson, outreach coordinator for Kansas City Public Library where the event was held

The original pool of 25 students was quickly whittled to just Sophia and Kush on Saturday Feb 22,2014.After 19 rounds in a Missouri county's annual spelling bee over the weekend, only two of the 25 contestants who started the competition remained.

Several hours and 47 rounds later, an 11-year-old and her 13-year-old adversary had used up all of the available words, forcing organizers of the Jackson County Spelling Bee to temporarily halt the showdown.
"It was legendary," said Mary Olive Thompson, a library outreach manager and co-coordinator of the Saturday spelling bee.

Kush Sharma(13) emerged the winner of Jackson County Spelling Bee after Sophia Hoffman(11) incorrectly spelled 'stifling' on Saturday March 08,2014

Head judge Kaite Stover, second from right, informs a tearful Sophia Hoffman, second from left, and her family that her misspelling of the word 'stifling' in the 28th round

Kush Sharma, center, reacts after spelling 'definition' to win the Jackson County Spelling Bee in the 29th round at the Central Library, as Sophia Hoffman, right, looks on, in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday March 08,2014

Frontier School of Innovation superintendent, Ismet Sean Isik, left, and principal, Ilker Yilmaz pose with Sharma after his hard-won victory 

Kush Sharma drew chuckles from spectators when he asked for the definition of the word 'definition'

The students went toe-to-toe for 28 rounds Saturday before Sharma clinched victory by spelling 'definition' after asking for the word's definition

In February 2014, spelling bee ended with a tie when Sharma and Hoffman went through 66 rounds before judges ran out of words

Kush Sharma now moves to National Spelling Bee in Washington DC in May 2014

Both spellers said they have become good friends over the past two weeks