HE may have been the only boy in the final 20 battling it out to win the Bahamas National Spelling Bee - but Charles Hamilton Jr rose to the occasion to claim top spot.

The 18th Annual Bahamas National Spelling Bee Final Competition was held on Sunday in the Crown Ballroom at Atlantis.

Charles said: “I was very nervous, with all the people there, how I was severely outnumbered by girls, I didn’t think or have enough faith within myself to think that I could actually come first or come out victorious. I emerged first place and I’m so happy.”

He will now go to Washington, DC, to represent The Bahamas in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Charles said what pushed him along was his “wonderful coach”, Dr Ruth Brown, who, he said, always wanted to see Washington, DC, again. Charles attends St Anne’s School and was representing the BAISS District.

Second prize winner was Jasmine Adamson, of Stephen Dillet Primary School.

Third prize winner was Prachi Kondapuran, of Queen’s College, who was the winner last year.

Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald commended the organisers from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and sponsors of the event, BEC and the Nassau Guardian.

He said preparation for a Spelling Bee Competition is challenging, but very rewarding in the end.