Monday 10 February 2014

University Challenge 2013-14: Qualification Quarter-Final 1: Trinity vs SOAS

It's time to get serious now, with the first of the Qualification Quarter-Finals. Whichever of these two fine teams won tonight would become the first team to go straight through to the semis; the losers could yet be able to join them if they won their play-off.

Trinity College Cambridge are one of the standout teams of the series so far, beating three very good teams from Christ Church Oxford, Peterhouse Cambridge and even reigning champs Manchester so far. The unchanged quartet comprised:
Matthew Ridley, from Northumberland, studying Economics 
Filip DrnovÅ¡ek Zorko, from Slovenia, studying Natural Sciences 
Captain: Ralph Morley, from Ashford in Kent, studying Classics 
Richard Freeland, from Cowbridge in Glamorgan, studying Maths

The School of Oriental and African Studies, or SOAS as we know them, have also been convincing so far, beating Southampton (look what they've subsequently achieved), Reading and Cardiff, all good teams in their own right, by comfortable margins. They were also the same four as before:
Maeve Weber, from Knebworth in Hertfordshire, studying Ancient Near East Studies
Luke Vivian-Neal, from Lusaka in Zambia, studying Chinese
Captain: Peter McKean, from Wallington in South London, studying African History
James Figueroa, from Surrey, studying African Studies and Development Studies

Obviously, my mutual support tonight went to JOW and LAM contributor Filip 'opaltiger' Drnovšek Zorko and Trinity, but I had no idea which of these two great teams would emerge on top. As I said on LAM the other day, were the QFs staight knockouts, we'd now have a final four of Trinity, SOAS, Somerville and Southampton, which would be one of the best final fours ever!

So, off we went. Peter McKean slipped up straight away, sending his team to -5, and allowing Trinity to get off the mark first. It wasn't long before SOAS got going too, though Maeve Weber was lucky to avoid getting told off for pausing before buzzing; a full set of bonuses showed that the Londoners meant business. Our man Filip took his first starter of the night, but the side weren't doing as strong on the bonuses as their opponents, meaning SOAS were able to eke out a slight lead.

The first picture round, on maps of battles in war series, went to Trinity, and gave them a slender lead of 50-40. And the lead began to increase when Richard Freeland took his first starter of the night; even though they missed all the bonuses, their buzzer work had been enough to give them a fair lead. SOAS broke back into the match, but a set of bonuses on feminism didn't give them many points, with Germaine Greer being the only one they, and probably most viewers myself included, managed to get!

The music round went to Trinity, and the bonuses on waltzes by composers not predominantly known for composing such pieces, saw their lead increase to 95-55. Neither side worked out the next starter, but Peter McKean made no mistake on the next starter, and a full set of bonuses reduced Trinity's lead to 15 points. It went back up again when Ms Weber slipped up on the next starter, and again when our man Filip shot in very quickly on the next starter, and then appeared to single-handedly mop up a set of bonuses on glands.

Ralph Morley, who had been quiet thus far, now took his first starter of the game, and a second consecutive full bonus set meant that suddenly Trinity's lead was beginning to balloon. SOAS needed to get back into play quickly, but Peter McKean's second wrong answer of 'Poland' of the night didn't do any good, though Trinity missed the starter too. The second picture round, on artworks depicting couples, provided more wheat for Trinity's mill, and their lead had suddenly risen to 185-75.

The way SOAS had been converting bonuses thus far, a good run of starters could yet see them close the gap. Luke Vivian-Neal had a go at the next starter, but only succeeded in cracking Paxo up with a wrong answer that sort of made sense in context! No points to anyone there, but Mr Morley shot in with the next starter, and when Richard Freeland took the next, Trinity's lead looked to have reached a safe level. As if to confirm this, the side took two bonuses, and when Filip took the next starter, their win was almost certain.

But the points just kept coming for Trinity, and a couple of starters later, their lead broke 200. Peter McKean finally managed a breakthrough for SOAS, and two bonuses put them within five of 100. And when Filip made a slip-up on the final starter, Maeve Weber took the points to break the Londoners into three figures just in time for the gong. Trinity won the match, 280-105.

Well done Filip and co on another very good performance; a thoroughly deserved place in the semis, and we'll see you then! Well done to SOAS too though, who certainly aren't out yet, and with a good draw, may well make it through too, which would definitely be fair. We shall see how they get on then.

When they did get in, SOAS did very good indeed, getting 11 bonuses out of 15 (with two penalties). Trinity managed 27 bonuses out of 45 (with one penalty), and our man Filip got a very impressive seven correct starters; Peter McKean was SOAS's best again, with four to his name.

On a final humorous note, SOAS forgot to say 'goodbye' on cue, leading to Paxo telling them off, saying he was just 'going though the niceties'!

Next week, presumably, we'll be seeing Manchester and Cardiff, followed by Somerville and Southampton, and then Clare and Queen's.

Also, be sure to check out Cromarty(IV)'s extended views on last week's match, which I uploaded this morning. Thanks again!

2 comments:

  1. I think SOAS were a bit hard done by in the scoreline. No doubting that Trinity deserved to win and Cambridge-related loyalty meant that I wanted them to win, but I was pleased nonetheless to see SOAS reaching 100+ points -- too good a team in the past to have a sub-100 score to their name, even when well-beaten.

    If the format of last year is followed, that will make SOAS v. the losers of Somerville and Southampton, both of which could be fantastic matches.

    Well done to Trinity for making the Semis, and good luck in their next match!

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  2. This was a fun match. Lots of good moments - two of the Geoffrey of Monmouth questions had come up earlier in our practice, which is why Matthew and I were so amused by that set. I finally get a full set on biology, though I've yet to answer a biology starter correctly. In fact both of my negs have been on biology starters. I really need to learn to wait for the whole question on those. Couple of frustrating moments too - not being able to dredge up Gerard Manley Hopkins' name given the term "sprung rhythm" was really annoying, and I lost a couple of buzzer races. (Mostly to Matthew. Which is much better than losing them to someone on the other team!)

    On to the numbers. We got 253 this week, suffering from a lower bonus conversion than usual. Our average stands at 276. SOAS meanwhile delivered a fantastic performances on the bonuses, giving them 196. That gives them more in defeat this week than they had in victory last time. Their average is now on 207.

    And just so you won't think I'm making all these stats up - the second round was a bit iffy, but my system has correctly predicted the winner of every QF so far.

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