University Challenge 2018-19: Semi-Finals Preview

OK, so we've arrived, once again, at the University Challenge semi-finals. And our four semi-finalist teams are:

• Durham (Sian Round, Cameron Yule, Matthew Toynbee and Ben Murray) Ran up the highest UC score and win of the decade thus far in their 360-55 first round win over Strathclyde, before seeing off Keble of Oxford only slightly less dominantly, 200-100. Came through the group stage via a 170-110 win over Glasgow, and then beat Edinburgh 165-110. Strong on the buzzers, with all four players contributing well, while their bonus rate was strong in the first round, not quite as strong in the next three matches, but still very decent.
• St Edmund Hall Oxford (Agastya Pisharody, Marceline Bresson, Freddie Leo and Lizzie Fry) Reached the group stage via two near identical victories, firstly 240-105 over York, then 245-105 over Clare of Cambridge. Come the group stage, they defeated Emmanuel 190-55, and then recovered from a highly shaky start to beat Bristol 150-130. Rather reliant on captain Mr Leo's buzzer form, 35 so far over the four games, though his colleagues have contributed as well, and their bonus rate has been respectable throughout.
• Edinburgh (Matt Booth, Marco Malusa, Max Fitz-James and Robbie Campbell Hewson) Comfortably saw off Sidney Sussex of Cambridge 210-75, then won a great second round contest against U.C.L. 180-160 on the last starter of the game. Started the group stage well with a 170-130 win over Manchester, then recovered from that 165-110 loss to Durham by beating Bristol 155-120 in the play-off. All four players have done their bit on the buzzer, steady on the bonuses throughout.
• Darwin College Cambridge (Stuart MacPherson, Chris Davis, Jason Golfinos and Guy Mulley) Easily defeated SOAS of London 260-90 in the first round, and then Downing of Cambridge 205-120 in the second. After a narrow loss to Bristol on a tie-break after drawing 105-each in their preliminary, they recovered by beating Emmanuel 225-130, and then Manchester 195-120. Captain Mr Golfinos has been their MVP so far, leading the buzzer runnings for the series thus far with 42, though his colleagues have assisted when necessary; their bonus rate has, apart from the loss, been pretty strong throughout too.

A balanced line-up then, with two Oxbridge teams and two non-Oxbridge. And, a balanced draw as well.

On Monday night in the first semi, Durham and Edinburgh will be playing each other again. This will be followed by what many are already calling the match of the series the following week, St Edmund Hall vs Darwin, or Leo vs Golfinos as most are saying! This draw also means that we will be guaranteed a non-Oxbridge team in the final for the first time since 2012-13! And I wonder if that was what persuaded TPTB to draw Durham vs Edinburgh against each other again immediately, rather than my predicted draw of Durham vs Darwin and St Edmund Hall vs Edinburgh.

So, what of these two contests? Well, Durham have already beaten Edinburgh once before, and that was a reasonably comfortable win on the buzzers on Durham's part. Same thing again then? Well, not for sure, no. We've had rematches before, and, while some, such as Trinity vs Manchester in 2014, have gone more or less as before second time around, not all have. Of the six grand finals I've covered on here before, four have been rematches: two saw the runners-up first time around win, the others saw the same team win by a considerably bigger margin than before. Now, Edinburgh are certainly more than capable of winning this one on the buzzer, but the smart money would probably be on Durham to triumph again.

As for St Edmund Hall vs Darwin, most are expecting it will largely come down to Mr Leo vs Mr Golfinos on the buzzer, and, again, I'd find it hard to disagree. Darwin do probably have the momentum behind them, having won their last two games comfortably on the buzzer, and been strong on the bonuses, while St Edmund Hall looked a tad ropy in their QF against Bristol, only really recovering in the later stages of the game. On that kind of form, Darwin would probably be light favourites, but, as I say, it will be a game won on the buzzer I suspect, and who knows how the starters will fall for either team.

So, point a gun at me and demand a prediction, I'll go for a Durham vs Darwin final, but I really would not be surprised if either match went the other way. These are four genuinely good and deserving semi-finalist teams, and any one of them would be worthy winners. It's been another good series to cover on here, and we can only hope that we get a strong end to it!

As for Only Connect, I have pretty much decided now that I will stop doing full reviews of it after this series; they're becoming increasingly harder for me to find the time to write with my increasingly busy schedule. Unlike UC, where I set everything to one side to cover hot off the press on Monday night, I don't have any day specially designated for reviewing OC, and thus it can sometimes take days to get a free day to do it. Plus, I have my other blog to deal with now, so I need to free up some time to do more for it, as opposed to the sporadic posts I've managed on it so far.

The draw for its semi-finals, according to ThePQG in a comment on my latest review, pits the Time Ladies vs the Poptimists and the Ancient Alumni vs the Dicers. I'd probably predict a Poptimists vs Ancient Alumni final if that is the case, but, again, it wouldn't surprise me if I'm wrong about either.

Best of luck all eight semi-finalists; here's to a strong end to this Quizzy Mondays season!