University Challenge 2023-24: Elimination Quarter-Final 1: Birkbeck vs Sheffield

Good evening my friends, and welcome once again to JOW for Quizzy Mondays! Which is very nearly done for another year, with Mastermind beginning its semi-finals tonight and UC not having that many shows left either. Tonight, the elimination stage of the QFs began (sort of, we alternate unlike OC), and, for one of tonight's teams, tonight would be the last time we'd be seeing them. The winners would join Manchester in the play-offs.

 

Birkbeck were narrow winners over Oxford Brookes and York in the first two rounds, before losing a very tough first QF against Manchester 160-95. They were the same foursome as those three times before:

Danny McMillan, from Belfast, studying Modern Irish History

Olivia Mariner, from London, studying Maths

Captain: Samir Chadha, from Ealing, studying Creative and Critical Writing

Margherita Huntley, from South London, studying Law and Political Economy

 

Sheffield were comfortable first round winners over Loughborough, narrow second round winners over Aberdeen, before losing 195-160 to Imperial in their first QF. They were also the same quartet as all those previous games:

Safiyyah Rujak, from Plymouth, studying History

Joseph McGough, from Coventry, studying History and Spanish

Captain: Cameron Colclough, from Sheffield, studying Biophysics

Matthew Nail, from Blyth, studying Philosophy

 

So, off we set once again then, and Mr Nail made the same mistake I did on the first starter of saying 'Bad' as soon as '1987 Michael Jackson album' was mentioned; minus five to both of us. If we'd waited, as Mr McMillan did, we'd have probably both given the full title of 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'; Birkbeck duly put last time firmly behind them by taking all three bonuses. A second starter to the Londoners gave them two correct bonuses, before Sheffield got going proper with a full house of their own. Birkbeck took the next two starters though, including the first picture round, on lists of Nobel laureates' works in their native languages, after which they led 80-20. Sheffield fought back very well in the second phase though, with three starters in a row, plus a penalty to their opponents, meant they had suddenly taken the lead. They also took the music round, on string quartets of the 1960s or later; no bonuses were taken, but they now led 90-75.

Birkbeck finally reawoke as Mr McMillan identified where the Seven Samurai was filmed, and a pair of bonuses gave them the lead back. Another starter and pair of bonuses took the Londoners into three figures first, before a third in a row gave them, again, two bonuses, including a standard footballing chestnut; if you hear 'won the league in 1962 and/or the FA Cup in 1978', it's going to be Ipswich. A fourth starter in a row gave them, very neatly, a fourth pair of bonuses in a row, before Sheffield finally reawoke with the second picture round, on fish given good ratings by the Marine Conservation Society; two bonuses of their own took the scores to 155-110. A second starter in a row went to the Steelers, but they broke the sequence by just taking one resulting bonuses. Back came Birkbeck through Mr Chadha, and, yep, two bonuses accompanied it. And when Mr McMillan took the next starter, and they went one better by taking all three bonuses, that was game over. Sheffield did at least go out on a rally by taking the remaining starters of the game to equal their score from their previous game. At the gong, Birkbeck won 200-160.

A pretty good contest between two very decent teams, well played both! Well done Birkbeck, and best of luck in the play-offs! Hard lines to Sheffield, but they've had a worthy run, and, again, a deserved one given the bad luck their predecessors have had in recent series; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr McMillan was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Ms Rujak and Mr McGough were joint best for Sheffield with three each, though Mr Nail was, just, their best buzzer of the series overall with 14 over four matches. On the bonuses, Birkbeck managed a solid 21 out of 30 and Sheffield an also good 15 out of 27, and both sides incurred one penalty each.

Next week's match: Trinity vs U.C.L.

Mastermind’s first semi-final was won by Sarah Thornton, whose 26 points saw her just finish ahead of Richard Brooks and Jane Hill with 23 each, with Rashid Mumtaz completing the line-up with 16.

 

We also got, as I mentioned last week, a repeat of the very first Only Connect Champion of Champions special from 2009! Complete with Greek letters instead of the now ubiquitous hieroglyphs! My Dad also opined that it was rather serious and not as light-hearted as the more recent series have been. The second CoC show from 2011 is on next Monday and, if VCM is to believed on X, the others are coming up as well in the weeks after.