Evening all. Well, surely it's no coincidence that this most unpredictable series of University Challenge has coincided with the most unpredictable Premier League season in years! To summarise, two teams who began the QFs as moderate outsiders are safely through, and at least one of the two teams who began them as favourites wouldn't make the semis, as they played each other tonight. Winners go through, runners-up go home.
York easily defeated Manchester (the Team Every... oh, forget it) in their first match and Christ's of Cambridge in their second; they narrowly lost to Peterhouse in their first QF, but recovered with a win over St Catharine's in their second. They were unchanged from those outings:
Barto Joly de Lotbiniere, from London, studying History
Sam Smith, from Guernsey, studying Chemistry
Captain: David Landon Cole, from Yeovil, studying Politics
Joseph McLoughlin, from Oldham, studying Chemistry
Imperial trounced Reading and Sidney Sussex of Cambridge in the early stages; they comfortably won out over Nuffield in their first QF, but their second saw them narrowly defeated by Liverpool. They too were the same four we've got used to over the past months:
Ben Fernando, from Birmingham, studying Physics
Ashwin Braude, from North London, studying Physics
Captain: James Bezer, from Manchester, studying Physics
Onur Teymur, from North London, studying Mathematical Statistics
Off we set again then, and Mr Joly de Lotbiniere took the first starter of the night, and York put their intentions firmly down by taking a full set of bonuses on the works of Mr G. Orwell. Mr Bezer slipped up and lost five on the next starter, allowing York to take a second starter and full bonus set in a row. A third starter and full bonus set for York meant Imperial already looked in deep trouble; what they didn't need was another slip-up. And then another penalty took Imperial down to (-15); only (AFAIK) the second Paxo-era team to fall that far back, the other being the infamous New Hall Cambridge team from late '97. Thankfully, Mr Teymur finally got one right for the London side, and two bonuses took them back into positives. The first picture round, on non-German European cities and their old German names, went to York, who swept up yet again, and thus lead 100-5.
Mr Fernando cut some of that gap with the next starter, and Imperial, again, took two bonuses on the work of economist George Akerlof. Mr Bezer made up for his earlier misdemeanors by taking a second starter in a row for the London side, and, again, two bonuses, on acids, followed. York maintained their impressive bonus work when Mr Smith's taking of the next starter was accompanied by a clean sweep on African countries. This remarkable consistency continued: Imperial took two bonuses on a set on birds, while York swept up a set on Herefordshire churches. Excellent work by both sides; totally indicative of the standard at this late stage.
The music round, on classical pieces their composers hated, went to Imperial, who went one better than so far and took all three bonuses, cutting the deficit to 150-90. York's bonus form also ended, as they only took one bonus from a set of quotes from Hamlet. Imperial only managed one from their next set too. Mr Fernando took another starter for Imperial, and just the one bonus followed from that set too.
The second picture round, on portraits of Bible translators and the languages they translated it into, went to York, who took two, which increased their lead to 185-120. It increased again when Mr McLoughlin took the next starter, but just the one bonus followed this time. Mr Fernando kept Imperial's hopes of a late comeback alive by taking the next starter, and the side took two bonuses on electronics.
But Mr Smith took another starter for York, and the side took a full bonus set on geology. And when Mr Smith very impressively took the next starter, two bonuses gave them a 100+ lead, and that was game over for Imperial. A third starter in a row for Mr Smith was only accompanied by one bonus, but it didn't matter too much at this point. The match petered out with two dropped starters, one of which lost Imperial another five. At the gong, York won 260-135.
Another excellent match well played by both sides, even though it finished up rather one-sided. Unlucky Imperial, who never quite recovered from that rough start, but did very well when they did get in, and have been superb throughout this series, so well done to them and thanks for playing! Very well done to York though; another excellent performance against strong opponents, and very very best of luck in the semis!
Mr Smith was, just, the best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr Fernando was best for Imperial with three; Mr Bezer was, just, Imperial's best buzzer of the series overall, with 24 to Mr Fernando's 23. On the bonuses, York converted a fantastic 28 out of 36, while Imperial managed an also decent 15 out of 24 (with four penalties); excellent work by both sides there.
Next week's match: St John's vs Newcastle in the final QF. We're nearly there now, people!
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