Good evening again my friends, and welcome to the penultimate Quizzy Monday of the season! A big day today, the Mastermind final! A slightly long than usual summation of that coming up later. For now, though, on with University Challenge, the penultimate one I'll be fully covering on this blog. Whoever won tonight's contest would meet Imperial in, what promises to be, a fine final next week...
U.C.L. have quietly had a pretty impressive run to this stage, a low scoring first round win over King's of Cambridge being followed with solid wins over Hertford of Oxford in R2 and Christ Church in their first QF, before an epic comeback saw them beat Trinity to reach the semis unbeaten. They were the same foursome as those times before:
James Hall, from North Finchley, studying Law
Ali Izzatdust, from Portugal and Azerbaijan, studying Intellectual History
Captain: Tayana Sawh, from North London, studying Medicine
Jacob Finlay, from Cranleigh in Surrey, studying Public Administration
Manchester also beat Trinity, in the first match of the series, then beat Edinburgh in R2 and Birkbeck in their first QF, before losing to Imperial in their second; they won another close game in their third, also beating Christ Church to reach the semis for the 11th time in the BBC era. They were also the same quartet as before:
Bluma De Los Reyes-White, from Franklin, Massachusetts, studying Genetics
Ilya Kullmann, from London, studying Medicine
Captain: Hiru Senehedheera, from Letchworth Garden City, studying Materials
Dan Grady, from Burton-on-Trent, studying Maths
So, off we set once again then, and a very quick buzz from Mr Izzatdust got the ball rolling for the night; just one bonus went with it however, allowing Manchester to quickly take the lead with a starter and two bonuses. Two further starters to Mr Izzatdust gave the Londoners back the lead, but they only took two of the resulting bonuses. The first picture round, of princely states of the Raj in India, went to Manchester; no bonuses meant they trailed 45-30. A starter to Mr Hall plus a full house of bonuses set U.C.L. further into the lead; Manchester, in contrast, took just one from their next set. A penalty to Manchester, a pick-up by U.C.L. and a full set of bonuses cemented their advantage, but Manchester recovered well with two starters in a row; the first bonus set, on 90s African footballers, gave them two correct, and me a rare full house, but they got nothing from the second. They did also take the music round though, on live recordings from the Birdland jazz club; one bonus meant they'd cut the gap to 95-85.
U.C.L. took the next two starters however, and full houses from both resulting bonus sets meant they'd quickly run up a big lead again. But then two consecutive penalties (one of them a bit unlucky TBF) allowed Manchester right back into the game; all three bonuses were taken from the first set, none from the second. The Mancunians also took the second picture round, on paintings depicting either twins or similar looking figures; no bonuses followed again, but the gap was now just 135-130. Up it went again from a(nother) starter to Mr Izzatdust and a full bonus set on Dungeons and Dragons, but Manchester responded in kind to make it just five between them again! Another penalty to the Londoners made it all square, but Manchester couldn't capitalise this time; Mr Izzatdust made up for it with the next starter though, but just one bonus meant it was still either team's game. Mr Hall took the next starter, but another sole bonus meant another starter was needed to make it safe. Manchester took the next to keep the game alive, but no bonuses were taken. And when Mr Finlay took the next starter, that was game over; all three bonuses confirmed this. At the gong, U.C.L. won 210-165.
A great game, worthy of the semi-finals, both teams would've been most worthy finalists; well played both! Very well done U.C.L., another excellent performance; very very best of luck next week! Hard lines to Manchester, who gave a fine effort but, like Trinity last week, the bonuses let them down a bit; they've had a great series though, thanks very much to them for playing!
The stats: Mr Izzatdust was the best buzzer of the night with seven starters, while Mr Senehedheera was best for Manchester with four, meaning he ends the series their best buzzer with 22 over six games. On the bonuses, U.C.L. managed a pretty good 23 out of 33 (with three penalties) and Manchester just 12 out of 33 (with one penalty).
Next week's match: the final! Imperial vs U.C.L.! A fuller preview coming up on Thursday/Sunday.
Mastermind reached its third final
of the Clive Myrie era. Oli Hanson (who, I literally only remembered when they
played a clip in his VT, was on UC for Brasenose Oxford back in 2019) went
first in the SS round and scored 8, which, after Ruth Hart immediately followed
this with a very good 15 on her round, meant he was more or less out of it
already.
Helen Lippell and Sarah Thornton
subsequently posted 10 each, before Thomas Nelson put himself into second place
with 12. George Twigg rounded off the round with another 10, resulting in a
3-way tie for third place.
So, onto GK. Oli went first and
put up a decent 13 to give him a respectable final total of 21. Helen then put
up an excellent 15 for a total of 25, which put her in with half a shout,
especially when Sarah ‘only’ scored 14 for 24 and George 12 for 22.
Thomas then put himself in pole
position however, with 14 for a total of 26, leaving Ruth needing 12 to win the
title. And… she went one better and scored 13 for a final total of 28, making
her the new champion! Congratulations to her, and thanks to the other five for
an excellent high-quality final!
It must be said, after a few years
in the wilderness as TPTB unnecessarily fiddled with the format, Mastermind’s ‘back-to-basics’
move to Belfast and Clive Myrie’s arrival in the chair have both given it a
real shot in the arm, and its now probably the best it’s been in a good decade
at least. The only thing really wrong at the moment is the format not allowing
for high scoring runners-up in the semis; hopefully Thomas’ second place finish
after being reprieved will result in a change somewhere down the line.
Anyway, thanks to all involved for
another excellent series; here’s to the next!
We also got the last Only Connect
Champion of Champions special, from the 2022 specials, between the Dicers and
the Data Wizards. Presumably, we’ll be getting the last two winners, the
Strigiformes and the Thrifters, playing in this year’s specials. Next week at
the same time, we’re getting the ‘Quiz’ special from the 2018 specials as the
lead in to the UC final.
Round Britain Quiz continued yesterday
in the new Sundays at 4:30pm slot. Which doesn’t suit me very well, so I
listened to it on Sounds at 3 this afternoon instead! Was able to play along
too as the questions were on the website this time, albeit in a different place
to where they’ve been in the past, which might explain why I couldn’t find them
last two weeks.
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