A c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n emerged on Saturday at the grand final of the RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship.

Nicole Lim, 10, from Singapore Chinese Girls' School beat 24 other finalists to clinch the top spot.

Successfully spelling out the word glockenspiel, a kind of percussion instrument, she became the first female winner of the three-year-old Big Spell. She also broke the winning streak of Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), which had produced the previous two champions.

She and eventual first runner-up Thomas Ang, 11, of St Joseph's Institution Junior put up a hard fight, clearing words that stunned even the adults in the audience. These words include verisimilitude, infinitesimal or encephalitis.

Last year's first runner-up Kua Le Yi, 11, from Catholic High School (Primary) was second runner-up this year.

The grand final held at ITE College Central in Ang Mo Kio was graced by Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob and attended by guests from RHB Banking Group, The Straits Times, the Ministry of Education and supporters from schools.