Evening everybody, and welcome back to University Challenge. Now no longer the only one of the BBC's heavyweight quizzes on on Mondays now. Brain of Britain returned last week, minus the audience for obvious reasons, with serial quizzer Graham Barker today's show by a very big margin (for BoB). On with UC, and the first Oxbridge match of the series, as well as, I believe, the latest the first Cambridge side to debut has done so...
For Oxford, Balliol College have appeared in seven prior BBC series, the most notable being 1998-99, when they controversially lost their first match thanks to a very badly researched question, and 2016-17, where they won the series, beating Eric Monkman's Wolfson in the final. This year's team were:
Chun Hei Hung, from Hong Kong, studying Economics and Politics
Selen Scholefield, from Bath, studying Classics
Captain: Michael O'Connor, from Blackheath in London, studying Philosophy and Politics
Lily Crowther, from Royal Leamington Spa, studying History
For Cambridge, Clare College have appeared six times before, the best performance being two runs to the QFs, including 2011-12, when they lost the best BBC era UC match (thus far) to eventual winners Manchester 270-250. This year's quartet were:
Sam Ahmed, from South West London, studying Linguistics
Liam McKnight, from Shropshire, studying Linguistics
Captain: Ellie Dunstone, from Oxford, studying Cancer Genomics
Henri van Soest, from Ostend in Belgium, studying Land Economy
So off we set once again, and Mr van Soest very quickly got the match up and running, with the Cambridge side taking just one bonus from their first set. Balliol duly got going too thanks to Ms Crowther, and they also took just one bonus from their first set. The two sides swapped starters at first, with the bonuses also very similar. After the first picture round, on European train route diagrams, taken by Clare, the Cambridge side led 60-35.
Two successive starters and half of the bonuses that went with them allowed Balliol to take a ten point lead, but Clare fought back with another starter and two bonuses to give them a ten point lead in return. And we were already into the music round, on works by members of the Mighty Five composers; the starter was dropped, the bonuses eventually went to Balliol, who took one, and the lead back, 85-80.
A second starter in a row to Mr O'Connor, plus one bonus on the work of writer Angela Carter, took them into three figures. But then two successive penalties, including one for a 'just an' interruption, reduced them back into doubles; Clare picked up the second starter, and retook the lead with a full bonus set on ornithologist Peter Davis. The second picture round, on paintings of ladies in the bath by female artists, went to Balliol; two correct gave them the lead back, 110-105.
So, a final sprint to decide the winners. Mr van Soest struck first with 'Erskine May', giving Clare the lead back, and they took two bonuses on geography. Back came Balliol with Ms Scholefield, and a full set of bonuses gave them a ten point lead. And when Ms Crowther took the next, Balliol were nearly there, but just one bonus kept Clare a starter and full house in touch. The starter came, but just one bonus came with it. And that was the gong; Balliol won 150-135.
A low scoring, but close and enjoyable contest between two well-matched teams. Well done to Balliol, through to the next round, and well done too to Clare, whose score will I suspect be on the borderline for the play-offs; we shall see.
The stats: Ms Crowther and Mr van Soest were the joint best buzzers of the night, with four each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, Balliol managed 14 out of 27 (with two penalties), and Clare 13 out of 21, and, for the first time this series, all eight players answered at least one starter correctly.
Next week's match: Bristol vs Corpus Christi Oxford
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