Evening all. So, after last week's Countdownfest, what was Quizzy Mondays have to offer this week? The answer is two distinguished UC alumni on OC, and a Cambridge derby on UC. The second year in a row we've had one in the first round. And hopefully this one wouldn't be overshadowed by any controversial vest wearers!
Queens' College Cambridge was founded and refounded by two queens of England in 1448 and 1465 respectively, hence the apostrophe placing. Alumni include Renaissance scholar Erasmus, Labour rebel Liz Kendall and retired panel show host Stephen Fry. It last sent a team to UC three series ago, who reached the second round before getting trounced by Manchester. This year's foursome were:
Sam Booth, from Greenford in London, studying Maths
Lorenzo Venturini, from Italy, studying Engineering
Captain: Frank Syvret, from Evesham in Worcestershire, studying Physics
Daniel Adamson, from Cambridge, studying History
Peterhouse Cambridge is thought to be the oldest college in Cambridge, founded in 1284. Alumni include scientists Lord Kelvin and James Clerk Maxwell, computing pioneer Charles Babbage and not yet retired panel show host David Mitchell. They are, of course, the current champions, having triumphed last year and become Twitter legends in the process. This year's quartet, with a lot to live up to, were:
Ephraim Jacob Jacobus Levinson, from London, studying English
Oliver Sweetenham, from Hinksey in Oxfordshire, studying English Literature
Captain: Natasha Voake, from New York, studying Linguistics
Xiao Lin, from Loughborough, studying Chemical Engineering
Off we set again then, and Mr Lin got the reigning champs off the mark first, and they took two bonuses on fictional detectives. Queens' very unluckily lost five on the next starter, Mr Adamson buzzing in after Paxo appeared to have finished talking, only for there to be a bit extra afterwards. We'll dwell no further on that, as I'm trying to be positive. Peterhouse didn't take the points, but Miss Voake took the next starter, and a full bonus set on the Mighty Five Russian composers. Queens' returned to positive figures thanks to Mr Syvret, and they too took a full bonus set on African geography. A quick buzz gave Peterhouse back possession, but just one bonus followed this time. The first picture round, on maps depicting drainage basins of major European rivers, went to Peterhouse, who took one bonus, which upped their lead to 75-20.
Mr Booth took Queens' back into the game with the next starter, and got a great reaction from Paxo for suggesting the Eiger is part of the Tour de France route! They took the other two bonuses, but got nothing from their next bonus set on the musings of Gore Vidal. (No mention of his dressing down of David Dimbleby on US election night eight years ago!) Peterhouse had also lost five by now, but Mr Levinson took the next starter, but a tricky set of bonuses on the Internet only gave them one right answer.
The music round, on pieces played on opening night of the first ever Proms, went to Peterhouse, who took just the one bonus again, but still led 100-50. Mr Sweetenham increased the lead with the next starter, and a full bonus set on women's football followed. In danger of being left behind, Queens' pounced on a Peterhouse slip-up and took two bonuses on inventors, unluckily missing the other. Mr Sweetenham resumed Peterhouse's progress, but nothing came from a tricky microbiology set. A bonus set on cricket also got them nowhere, with Paxo rather meanly rubbing in their ignorance of the subject!
The second picture round, on authors who used a pen name, went to Peterhouse, who took two bonuses, which increased their lead to 160-70. Queens' now had to go for it if they were to catch up/reach the repechage. A starter from Mr Syvret was a step in the right direction, as was a full set of bonuses on ages of world leaders. Mr Syvret took a second starter in a row, taking them into triple figures, but a tricky bonus set on chemistry only got them one correct answer.
Queens' now seemed to have built up a head of steam, though; Mr Adamson took a third starter in a row, and (what looked like) an educated guess gave them one bonus. Peterhouse had a chance to put the game out of reach, but Mr Lin's answer was wrong; Mr Venturini's was right, and Queens' were just twenty-five behind now. But when they dropped all the bonuses from the resultant set, that was most likely game over. Mr Venturini took a final starter, and the side took a final bonus, before the gong cut them off. Peterhouse won, 160-150.
A good match between two decent teams both of whom deserve to come back. Unlucky Queens', who just left it too late to gather momentum, but 150 should hopefully be enough for the repechage, so lets hope that early penalty doesn't prove costly and they deservedly get another go. Well done to Peterhouse, though; despite that late slump, a fair first effort and best of luck to them next time.
Mr Levinson was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Messrs Syvret and Adamson were joint best for Queens' with three each. On the bonuses, Queens' converted a decent 13 out of 25 (with that one penalty), while Peterhouse managed a not-so-good 12 out of 30 (with two penalties), which they'll probably need to improve on next time. For the third time this series, though, all eight players got at least one starter correct.
Next week's match: Oriel College Oxford vs Manchester, at the earlier time of 7:30, so that the Olympics can be shifted to BBC2 at 8 to satisfy the EastEnders fans unhappy about the show being shifted around due to sport. Only Connect is at the usual time, though.
Tonight's Only Connect was a rather slow affair which picked up late on. More info tomorrow.
Both Peterhouse and Queens' have been strong on the domestic Cambridge quizzing scene in 2015-16 and it was no surprise to see a tight eventual score (though the large gap in score at one stage was unexpected). In a match where everyone answered a starter, Queens' did well to pull it back to 150 - building a score that could challenge for the play offs looked beyond them by the 2nd picture round.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of University Challenge is that teams can rack up 50-75 points quite quickly if they're winning the buzzer race and being bold on those starters. And Queens' did this in the last few minutes.
With a score of 150, we would on balance expect Queens' to make it through to the play-offs. But it'll be a nervous wait till the end of Round 1 for them!