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[Winner Rishi Nair | Photo Credit: Mark Thiessen/National Geographic photos]
By: Giovanni Albanese Jr., India West
The 2016 National Geographic Bee finals featured 10 young students from across the country – seven of whom were Indian Americans – but the entire competition was seemingly a battle between eventual winner Rishi Nair, of Seffner, Fla., and runner-up Saketh Jonnalagadda, of Westford, Mass.
Nair and Jonnalagadda matched each other’s poise and composure throughout the May 25 bee in Washington, D.C., which aired May 27 on the National Geographic Channel, as they glided through the competition and into the final round, pitting the two against each other in a seven-question final round.
Nair, a 12-year-old sixth grader at Williams Magnet Middle School, answered five of the seven questions correctly while the 14-year-old eighth grader at Stony Brook Middle School Jonnalagadda could only answer four accurately.
The eventual winner got off to an early lead by correctly answering “Switzerland” to the question, “The Gotthard Base Tunnel, expected to open in early June, will be the world’s longest rail tunnel. This tunnel is located in which country?”
The runner-up failed to answer the first question, and after each answered questions two through four correctly, he got even when Nair failed to answer “Cape Byron” to the fifth question, “An active lighthouse is located on a cape that is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. Name this cape.”
Nair quickly regained his advantage on the sixth question, “A new marine sanctuary will protect sharks and other wildlife around Isla Wolf in which archipelago in the Pacific Ocean?” when he answered “Galapagos,” correctly, and Jonnalagadda incorrectly suggested “New Caledonia” as the answer.
It then came down to the final question: “Which East African lake that drains into the Ruzizi River contains large quantities of dissolved methane gas that could generate electricity for millions of people?”
Nair, oozing with confidence, quickly wrote down his answer, while Jonnalagadda showed some signs of the mounting pressure, taking additional time to pen his response. Both correctly answered, “Lake Kivu.”
Knowing the result was sealed, Nair jumped from his seat and gave a loud celebratory scream as he raised both arms to the sky before his parents, Ray and Geetha Muralidharan, joined him on stage to embrace him.
His father, Ray, could be heard saying, “I’m proud of you,” as cameras focused in on the family’s moment. Nair’s father later told India-West that his son has spent six years of long hours studying and knowing countries’ history and culture to achieve the feat.
Asked by moderator Mo Rocca for “one adjective to describe how you feel,” Nair paused and thought about it before saying, “proud.”
Nair’s response was cool following winning a tournament of such magnitude. He later told India-Westthat he never really felt any pressure throughout the contest.
“I knew if I stayed calm and took a deep breath I would win eventually,” he said.
Nair is just the second Florida-based student to win the National Geography Bee. Palm Harbor, Fla.-based Aadith Moorthy was the first to do so in 2010.
Nair is the fifth straight Indian American to win the bee. Rahul Nagvekar in 2012, Sathwik Karnik in 2013, Akhil Rekulapelli in 2014 and Karan Menon in 2015 were the previous four winners.
“Mostly fun competing and seeing how hard work and long hours paid off,” Nair told India-West of the emotion of the competition. “I’m proud of myself and know that by sheer hard work and determination, I can achieve anything in life,” he added.
For winning the event, Nair received a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, and an all-expenses paid trip to Alaska for a Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic eight-day adventure.
The expedition will take place aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion, and will include a stop at Glacier Bay National Park, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
For coming in second, Jonnalagadda, an eighth grader at Stony Brook Middle School, earned a $25,000 college scholarship. Kapil Nathan, a 12-year-old from Hoover, Ala., finished third in the competition, and received a $10,000 college scholarship.
The other finalists included Indian Americans Rishi Kumar, 10, of Maryland; Pranay Varada, 13, of Irving, Texas; Samanyu Dixit, 12, of Matthews, N.C.; and Ashwin Sivakumar, 11, of Beaverton, Ore., as well as Grace Rembert of Montana, Lucas Eggers of Minnesota, and Thomas Wright of Wisconsin. Each of the finalists outside of the top three won $500.
The competition began with five rounds of questions based on U.S. geography for the 10 contestants. The rounds featured pictures that the kids had to guess the location, a video question, a “Geo Challenge” with questions asked based on artifacts, and a lightning round.
Nair and Jonnalagadda finished the round with the top score of eight points. The four students with the lowest scores — Dixit, Sivakumar, Wright and Eggers, with scores of 4, 4, 4 and 5, respectively — were eliminated.
Rounds six through 10 had roughly the same format as the first five rounds but with a global geography focus and doubled point values. After Nair failed to answer the Round 6 question right, he bounced back to answer most the questions accurately through Round 10, including all three lightning round questions.
Like Nair, Jonnalagadda had a successful run through Round 10, including acing the lightning round. Both Nair and Jonnalagadda easily earned spots in the top three.
Nathan, however, needed a little bit of luck on his side. He correctly answered all three lightning round questions just to force a three-way tiebreaker with Rembert and Kumar. He was able to answer two tiebreaker questions accurately to earn a spot in the final three.
In the penultimate round, the three boys were placed backstage with each one coming out to answer the same question one by one. Their answers were graded by a panel of judges according to accuracy, reasoning and presentation.
The scenario laid out to them was that of a conservationist advising on the creation of a new national park in Africa that will support ecotourism. It could be created in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria or Gabon. Their responses had to take into account the land’s biodiversity and political stability. “Which country is the best and why?”
Nathan, for his response, choosing Gabon, received five points of the possible six.
Nair earned five points for his response selecting Congo. His presentation was given with confidence, even though it was previously revealed while the boys were backstage that the Congo was the second best selection. Gabon was considered the top choice. The judges said Nair had an “almost perfect presentation.”
Jonnalagadda, like Nair, chose the Congo. He didn’t seem as confident in his answer, but the judges rewarded him with four points, as the judges felt he “was a little hesitant” and “didn’t give the most convincing argument.”
Despite his score in the semifinal round, Nathan, with 22 points, did not tally enough points to catch up with Nair (23) and Jonnalagadda (24) for a spot in the final round.
The scores were wiped clean for the final round with the two facing off to answer seven questions. Both were broached about their feelings prior to the round kicking off and they each showed some nervousness about being in the final two.
In a pre-recorded video, Jonnalagadda said to get to the top 10 took “a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication (and) knowing when to be calm.” He showed that throughout the final rounds as his poise put him into the final pairing.
Nair added in a video during the broadcast, “My parents put at least half the work I’ve put in (to getting to this stage of the event), so they would be proud of me.” He went on to remind his parents, presumably of a previous discussion, “Mom and Dad, remember, if I win, I get a trip to Zurich, a trip to Paris and a golden retriever puppy.”
The 28th annual National Geographic Bee began with 3 million students from 11,000 schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, U.S. Atlantic and Pacific territories, and Department of Defense Dependents Schools. The 54 state and local winners convened in Washington, D.C., for the preliminary round May 23, which pared the contestants down to 10 (I-W May 24, 2016 http://bit.ly/1UdTCke).
(This story, originally published May 25, was updated June 1.)
This story was originally published on India West.
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