University Challenge: Qualification Quarter-Final 1: Manchester vs U.C.L.

Well, the preliminaries gave us three average matches, and one truly fascinating one. Now, we got down to business: the winners would go through to the semis, while the runners-up would have to come back and try again. And, on paper, there was not very much between these two fine teams at all.

Manchester got off to a shaky start to the series, only just beating Lincoln College Oxford, but have since made up for that with comfortable enough victories over Magdalen and Imperial. They were still:
David Brice, from Kingston-upon-Thames, studying Economics  
Adam Barr, from Muswell Hill in London, studying Physics with Astrophysics 
Captain: Richard Gilbert, from Warwickshire, studying Linguistics 
Debbie Brown, from Buxton, studying Pain Epidemiology

U.C.L., as James [Gratrex] pointed out, have come through three very different matches to get this far: an easy win over Exeter, a close one over Jesus College Oxford, and a comeback from well behind to beat Bangor comfortably. They also remained the same:
Adam Papaphilippopoulos, from London, studying Philosophy 
Tom Tyszczuk Smith, from Cambridge, studying Medicine 
Captain: Simon Dennis, from London, studying the History and Philosophy of Science 
Tom Parton, from Staffordshire, studying Natural Sciences

U.C.L. got off to shaky start, with a penalty on the very first starter, giving Manchester a head start. But they soon got going, and, throughout the first quarter, things were very even. After the first picture round, a rather complex one on mathematical functions that I couldn't make any sense of at all, U.C.L. led 60-40.

Throughout the second phase of play, U.C.L. began to power away on the buzzer, and soon left Manchester well behind. Unlike the last few weeks, when not many bonuses were being converted, U.C.L. seemed to be doing rather well on them, generally getting at least two on each set. They even managed to answer some of the bonuses before Paxo had finished reading them out!

Manchester had soon fallen well behind; David Brice buzzed in early on a starter spelling out a girl's name using the NATO phonetic alphabet, which was rather brave, but it paid off. Manchester also took the music starter, but none of the bonuses; one of the bonuses I knew because I'd heard it on the show before! (That's what you get from watching too many back editions on YouTube!) Manchester had now cut U.C.L.'s lead to 120-70.

U.C.L. then began to surge again, and were beginning to pull out into a really strong lead. After the second picture round, the lead was up to 185-70. But Manchester weren't going to let them run away like that; we saw how they hold their nerve to beat Lincoln in the first round, despite falling well behind. Two successive starters saw them break into three figures, and maybe, just maybe, they could do it again.

But Simon Dennis thought otherwise, as he took his latest starter to pull his side further ahead. His opposite number, Mr Gilbert, hit back straight away, and a full set of bonuses pulled them closer again. The current champs then took a second consecutive starter, and one bonus, which they got by giving the same answer three times (a tactic that does work, occasionally; the last one is usually the most obvious!).

But this was as close as Manchester got, as U.C.L. took the remaining starters, which secured the victory. At the gong, U.C.L. won by 230-150.

Whew, that was a good one! After a few weeks of not many bonuses being got, the teams did much better this week: U.C.L. managed a very good 23 bonuses out of 38 (with one penalty), while Manchester made 14 bonuses out of 24. Simon Dennis was the best buzzer of the night, getting five starters, while Debbie Brown led for Manchester with three. A great game, played very well by both teams. It was U.C.L.'s quicker buzzing that won the game, and they fully deserve to make the semis. So too do Manchester, who have one more chance to make it through, if they win their next match.

Next week's match: Imperial vs Bangor, with the runners-up leaving the contest (good luck Welshguy and pocketmouse!)