University Challenge: Round 1: Match 2: St George's vs King's

Well, after the slow start to the series last week, things picked up this week with a much better, much closer match between two good teams, with the outcome in doubt until the final minutes.

St George's College London is a medical college founded in 1733. It last entered a team in 2009-10, where they trounced York in Round 1, before narrowly losing to Girton College, Cambridge in an exciting second round match. Representing them were:
Shashank Sivaji, from Southend, studying Medicine
Alexannder Suebsaeng, from London, studying Medicine
Captain: Rebecca Smoker, from County Kildare, studying Medicine
Sam Mindel, from London, studying Medicine

King's College Cambridge is older, having been founded in 1441. The college entered last year, where they were trounced by Queen's College Oxford in the first round, which is a shame, as they were a really good strong team. Hoping to do a bit better this year were:
Curtis Gallant, from North London, studying Classics
Amber Ace, from Perthshire, studying Classics
Captain: Fran Middleton, from Chorleywood in Hertfordshire, studying Classics
James Gratrex, from Leeds, studying Physics

So, not a great variety of subjects tonights then!

Imagine Paxo's surprise when Mr Gratrex, the only non-classicist on his team, got the first starter, which was on, er... classics! (The defeat of the Spartans to be precise) The first half of the match up to the music round saw the teams generally swap starters, with St George's better showing on the bonuses giving them a slight advantage. The other 'Paxo moment' of the night came at the first picture round, on Olympic marathon tracks (very appropriate!), where the teams had to name the city from an outline of the track. When King's suggested 'Dublin' to one of the bonuses, Paxo spluttered 'that's certainly not Dublin!'

Things remained even throughout the second half as well, with the teams generally swapping starters, and momentum. After the second picture round, St George's had a 35 point lead, but King's weren't beaten, and began to claw back ground, and soon they had the advantage. But, with barely minutes to go, St George's began a late sprint for the finish, and narrowly emerged winners by a margin of 175-145.

Paxo told King's that the match was closer than the score suggests, and that they may well have done enough to return as one of the four highest scoring losing teams from Round 1. This would be absolutely fair, as King's were a good team. James Gratrex answered five starters correctly, but the side answered just 11 bonuses correctly out of a possible 30. St George's managed an only slightly better 17 out of 30 bonuses, and that's what won them the match; Alexander Suebsaeng and Sam Mindel got four starters each for the side. Both sides incurred two five point penalties for interrupting incorrectly.

No match next week, as Eastenders has to be moved to BBC2 due to the Olympics on BBC1. I presume this will be the same for the week after as well. So, we can expect to see University Challenge return on 13th August, the day after the Olympics conclude. Will report back when I find out for sure.