SPORTS / U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
June 2, 2014
Two boys share spelling bee title
ASIAN CUP OUTCOME. Japan’s Azusa Iwashimizu (#3) scores
a goal during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup final soccer match at Thong
Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The goal gave Japan a 1-0
win over defending champion Australia. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Japan beats Australia in
Women’s Asian Cup final
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) — Azusa
Iwashimizu’s 27th-minute goal gave Japan a 1-0 win over
defending champion Australia in the final of the Women’s
Asian Cup.
Third-ranked Japan won its maiden title after four
previous final appearances, becoming the first country
to hold both the Asian and World Cup titles at the same
time.
Earlier, in the match for third place, striker Li Yang
struck in the dying minutes to help eight-time champion
China beat South Korea 2-1.
Park Eun-sun’s own goal in the second minute put
China ahead before Yoo Young-ah restored parity for
South Korea.
All four semifinalists as well as fifth-place Thailand
have qualified for next year’s Women’s World Cup in
Canada.
OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The
dreaded bell that signals a misspelled
word tolled for each of the last two
spellers in the Scripps National
Spelling Bee late last month. But in
an exhilarating twist, it wasn’t the
end for either of them.
Sriram Hathwar of Painted Post,
New York, and Ansun Sujoe of Fort
Worth, Texas, got back-to-back words
wrong, each giving a reprieve to the
other. Neither stumbled again, and a
dozen words later, they ended up as
co-champions of the bee for the first
time in 52 years.
“The competition was against the
dictionary, not against each other,”
Sriram said after both were showered
with confetti onstage. “I’m happy to
share this trophy with him.”
Ansun said afterward that he knew
the word that Sriram got wrong:
“corpsbruder,” a close comrade. Ditto
for 14-year-old Sriram, who said he
was familiar with “antigropelos,”
which means waterproof leggings.
That word dashed 13-year-old
Ansun’s chance for an upset victory.
After their misses, the boys staged
a riveting duel, plowing through the
toughest words the bee had to offer:
Skandhas.
Hyblaean.
Feijoada.
Augenphilologie.
Sdrucciola.
Holluschick. Thyemelici. Paixtle.
Encaenia. Terreplein.
Finally, only four of the 25 cham-
pionship words remained. Two had to
be kept in reserve so that the bee
wouldn’t end with an incorrect
spelling.
Sriram’s last word was sticho-
mythia, a theatrical term for dialogue
representing an altercation and
SENSATIONAL SPELLERS. Ansun Sujoe, 13, of Fort Worth, Texas, left, and Sriram
Hathwar, 14, of Painted Post, New York, shake hands after being named co-champions of the
National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
delivered in alternating lines.
Sriram rarely appeared flustered,
nodding confidently when he got a
word he knew. Ansun was more ner-
vous and demonstrative, no more so
than on the word that gave him a
share of the title: “feuilleton,” the
features section of a European
newspaper or magazine.
Upon hearing the word, Ansun
opened his mouth wide, grimaced,
and rolled his eyes. As the stage lights
turned red, signalling that he had 30
seconds left, he said, “Ah, whatever!”
before beginning to spell.
They became the fourth co-cham-
pions in the bee’s 89-year history and
the first since 1962. Although they
hoisted a single trophy together on-
stage, each will get one to take home,
and each gets the champion’s haul of
more than $33,000 in cash and prizes.
In addition to their shared love of
spelling, both boys play double-
reeded instruments: oboe for Sriram,
bassoon for Ansun, who also plays
piano and guitar and has perfect
pitch. Sriram’s parents are both
physicians, and he hopes to become
an ophthalmologist.
Both champions are also Indian
American. The past eight winners
and 13 of the past 17 have been of
Indian descent, a run that began in
1999 after Nupur Lala’s victory,
which was later featured in the
documentary Spellbound.
Gokul
Venkatachalam
of
Chesterfield, Missouri finished third,
and Ashwin Veeramani of North
Royalton, Ohio was fourth.
With only one previous appearance
in the bee, Ansun said he looked up to
Sriram.
“I’d seen him in the finals, and I
wanted to be like that,” he said.
Said Sriram: “I guess a veteran
and, let’s say a rookie, it’s pretty cool.”
Associated Press writer Joseph
White contributed to this report.
Standup paddleboarding picks up steam
EASY EXERCISE. James Birney is seen on a
family outing using a durable wood paddleboard dur-
ing a paddling adventure in the Mobbly Bayou Pre-
serve in Oldsmar, Florida. A sort of combination
between surfing and kayaking, standup paddling has
exploded in popularity the past few years. It’s relatively
easy and can be done just about anywhere there’s wa-
ter. (AP Photo/Three Brothers Boards, James Birney)
By John Marshall
AP Sports Writer
RECKENRIDGE, Colo. — Merrill
Mann had always been intrigued
when she saw people on standup
paddleboards tooling around on area
lakes, so when she found a coupon for a
rental, she decided to give it a try.
Now she’s hooked.
“I loved it the first time I tried it,” said
Mann, who rides on lakes near her home in
Avon. “Anything with the outdoors, being
on the water, it’s very serene yet you’re
getting a workout. You’re exercising and
out in the sun.”
Standup paddleboarding has exploded
in popularity the past few years. A sort of
combination
between
surfing
and
kayaking, it has become a hit on oceans,
lakes, and rivers across the United States
and beyond.
According to a 2013 Outdoor Foundation
recreation report, standup paddle-
boarding was the most popular outdoor
activity for first-time participants,
garnering 56 percent of the newbies among
all outdoor activities last year.
The appeal is simple: It’s relatively easy,
available to a wide range of ages, and can
be done just about anywhere there’s a body
of water.
“I think the reason it’s blowing up so
much is there’s no limitations,” said RJ
Murray, co-owner of Three Brothers
Boards in Daytona Beach, Florida. “As
long as you have a body of water, it doesn’t
matter where you are. People who lived
away from the ocean and wanted to be in
that environment never really had that
option before paddleboarding.”
Standup paddleboarding is not new.
The ancient Hawaiians were believed to
use it as transportation between islands
and for fishing, while fishermen from Asia
to South America have used forms of
standup paddleboarding while working
B
their catch.
The recent rise in popularity started
with surfers and carried on with tourists in
beach towns who then took the idea back to
where they live.
Now, standup paddleboarders can be
found cruising along the shore on just
about every coast, across mountain lakes,
racing down rivers, and even participating
in group yoga classes atop their boards.
“When I first heard people wanted to do
yoga classes on paddleboards, I was like,
‘You’ve got to be kidding me,”’ said
Murray, who started Three Brothers with
his brother Justin in 2009. (A third
brother, Jason, died earlier that year.)
“People are getting really creative with it. I
can’t imagine where it will be four years
from now.”
The equipment certainly has changed.
Little more than modified surfboards
just a few years ago, boards now are
specifically designed for standup paddling,
averaging 10 to 12 feet in length and
contoured for easy balancing. Ocean
boards are typically made of the same
materials as surfboards, while boards used
on lakes and rivers can be made of
inflatable material used for river rafts or
injected plastic like kayaks.
The optimal size for the paddle is 8 to 10
inches longer than the paddler, to give
them leverage.
“The boards have gotten more complex,
the competition stiffer,” Murray said. “In
four years, the sport has done a 180.”
The changes have added to the
popularity.
Because the boards have become so
sturdy, standup paddleboarding has
become a sport nearly anyone can handle,
not just surfers or swimmers.
Set up with the right size board and calm
water conditions, most first-timers only
need about 10 minutes to feel comfortable
and start paddling away. It gets a bit more
difficult when there are waves or a
current, but remains accessible to people
from seven to 77, according to Murray.
“You pretty much get up at your own
pace,” said Mary Hoffius, who lives in
Breckenridge and has been standup
paddleboarding for three years. “You start
off on your knees and you stand up. The
boards are really sturdy now. It’s actually
hard to fall off on a still body of water. It
took me no time.”
Like any sport, standup paddleboarders
have picked up the pace within the sport,
pushing the boundaries to new,
adrenaline-fuelling levels.
Races have cropped up across the
country. Paddlers also have joined surfers
in hanging 10, using their paddles for
added speed while riding the waves into
shore.
But most riders do it just for the
enjoyment of being out on the water and in
the sun, enjoying the scenery while getting
a decent upper-body and core workout.
“It’s not like you’re racing down the side of
a mountain on a mountain bike and all the
danger that goes along with that, so it’s a
more low-key activity,” Mann said.
Wondering what’s going on this week?
Check out The AR’s Community and A.C.E.
Calendar sections, on pages 10 and 12.