University Challenge 2023-24: Round 2: Match 1: Warwick vs Trinity

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to JOW! We've arrived at my least favourite round of UC, the sudden death second round when we lose good teams for good after a win and a single loss. Though, to be fair, given the very high quality of this year's second round line-up, we'll likely be doing that every week this series, so maybe not so much this time around. Oh yeah, and a slight correction from before: in my second round preview, I stated that at least one of the five teams that scored between 220 and 240 would be going out; this, of course, would only be the case assuming the four highest scorers all made it through, which they might not. Apologies for that slight error; thanks to Andrew B. for pointing it out. Anyway, one of those afore-mentioned four would be kicking off the round tonight...

Warwick beat Wolfson of Cambridge in a match of four quarters, three of which they dominated, eventually winning 265-140. They were the same foursome as before:

James Coe, from Coventry (originally Buckinghamshire), studying Chemistry

Luke Beresford, from Chesterfield, studying Maths

Captain: Matthew Bliss, from Solihull, studying British Urban History

Abby Akarapongpisakdi, from Bangkok, studying Film Studies

Trinity College Cambridge came through the repechage, losing the first game of the series to Manchester on a 175-each tie-breaker, but easily beat Southampton 245-120 in their play-off just two weeks ago. They were also the same quartet as before:

Sarah Henderson, from North London, studying Japanese

Agnijo Banerjee, from Dundee, studying Maths

Captain: Ryan Joonsuk Kang, form Seoul, studying Organic Chemistry

Jeremi Jaksina, from Bialystok, Poland, studying Genetics

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Coe who opened the round with 'the Fischer-Tropsch process' (no, me neither); Warwick took two bonuses on robots. Mr Jaksina (who X pointed out to be wearing nearly the same outfit as Mr Coe!) took the next two starters, but Trinity only took one bonus from both resulting sets. No-one knew the first picture starter; the bonuses, on flags featuring a sunburst, also went to the Cambridge side though; two bonuses took their lead to 50-20. Two further starters plus bonuses increased this lead, prompting AR to give Warwick his customary 'plenty of time'; this time it worked, as Mr Bliss duly reawoke them, with another two bonuses following his correct starter. The music round, on classical works based on poems by symbollist writers, went to Trinity though (with AR berating them for not interrupting a piece with an answer, saying "This is a quiz, not a concert!"); they also took two correct answers, which took their lead to 115-40.

And the lead increased further as Mr Kang took the next starter, though just one bonus followed. Back came Warwick now though, as the Midlanders took two starters in a row for the first time, and allowed them to take 35 points out of the lead. Only for Trinity to duly take another starter and a full bonus set on former names of chemical elements. Warwick had found their range now though, and duly took another two starters, including the second picture round, on paintings depicting bears, after which they had cut the gap to 155-115. A starter and full bonus set gave Trinity more room to breathe, as did a forgivable penalty to Warwick, and meant the Midlanders would have to go flat out to stand a chance. And go flat out they did, as two starters and pair of bonuses cut the gap back down to 30. Back came Trinity with Ms Henderson quickly doing the honours, but just one bonus on monarchs who died after horsing accidents left the door ajar for Warwick. And Warwick went straight for it, taking two starters in a row, which along with bonuses meant they were just ten behind! A one-starter shoot-out: Ms Akarapongpisadki blinked first, but was wrong! Mr Kang swooped, and was right! And that was the gong! Trinity won 205-185!

What a fine contest that was; bravo, once again, to both teams for clapping each other at the end, well deserved! Well done to Trinity, and best of luck in the quarter-finals! Hard lines to Warwick, who would've been worthy winners too (third time in this blog's lifetime they've narrowly lost to a repechage survivor in the second round); a fine performance, thanks for playing!

The stats: Ms Henderson was the best buzzer of the night with four, while Messrs Coe and Bliss were best for Warwick with three each. On the bonuses, Warwick managed 18 out of 30 (with the night's one penalty) and Trinity 19 out of 31, and, for the second time in three games, all eight players answered at least one starter correct, which we always like seeing.

Next week's match: UEA vs Open

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