University Challenge: Qualification Quarter-Final 2: St George's vs New College

Well, amidst the rather cold and snowy atmosphere that has engulfed the city at the moment, we had a serious match on our hands here. The winners would join U.C.L. in the semis. Both teams had had impressive runs to this stage, so there wasn't much between them on paper.

St George's narrowly defeated James G. and co from King's College Cambridge in the first round, way back in July, before more comprehensively defeating Lancaster in Round 2, and Pembroke College Cambridge in the preliminaries, showing good buzzer and bonus work along the way. They were still:
Shashank Sivaji, from Southend-on-Sea, studying Medicine 
Alexander Suebsaeng, from London, studying Medicine
Captain: Rebecca Smoker, from County Kildare, studying Medicine
Sam Mindel, from London, studying Medicine

New College Oxford convincingly defeated two very good teams from Homerton College Cambridge and York early on, before they too defeated James and co in the preliminaries, albeit after falling silent in the closing minutes, as Paxo reminded us. They remained:

Remi Beecroft, from Letchworth in Hertfordshire, studying Psychology and Philosophy
India Lenon, from London, studying Classics

Captain: Andy Hood, from Wasperton in Warwickshire, studying PPE
Tom Cappleman, from Bracknell, studying Maths

So, on paper, very little between these two fine teams, with St George's better bonus showing in the preliminaries putting them ahead slightly.

The hitherto impressive Alexander Suebsaeng quickly got St George's off the mark. The equally hitherto impressive Tom Cappleman did likewise for New College. But an early interruption from Andy Hood allowed St George's to gather a brief momentum spurt. After the first picture round, on £5 coins, and what they commemorated, St George's were ahead by 40-10.

So far, then, neither side was really managing to gather a convincing head of steam. New College fought back, but weren't having a great deal of luck on the bonuses. One bonus asked for a common product obtained from trees; after much deliberation, Andy Hood replied 'wood', which got some laughter, and some predictable sarcasm from Paxo!

St George's also seemed to be having trouble with the bonuses, which contrasts greatly to their good showing on them earlier in the series. New College eventually managed a full set, on personal pronouns, which gave them a narrow lead. The music round, on ballets based on fairy tales (one of which, Prokofiev's Cinderella, I got because I've heard it on the show twice before!), saw St George's get their first full set of the night, and reclaim the lead by 80-60.

A set of bonuses on mathematical matrixes saw Sam Mindel reduced to laughter as he tried to answer them! New College then slowly began to claw away at the deficit, getting a row of starters, but no bonuses following. The second picture round, on authors who declined honours, saw New College narrowly claim the lead by 105-95.

Into the final stretch of play, it was still very much up for grabs. The sides exchanged starters, with New College just maintaining a slender lead. Then, with three minutes left, New College began to put their feet down, with a late run of starters. Though the bonuses, again, didn't fall well for them, the starters alone were enough to win them the match. At the gong, New College won by 160-110.

So, New College reach the semis, as widely expected, but not as comprehensively as some may have predicted at the start of the quarters. Tom Cappleman, again, gave a good buzzer showing, getting seven starters, but the side managed just 9 bonuses out of 34 (with one penalty), which may well prove costly in the semis. Alexander Suebsaeng led the way for St George's, getting three starters, and the side managed 8 bonuses out of 21, which, again, is quite low given their previous good showing. And the draw may well throw them against Bangor next, which would most certainly be an interesting match.

Next week: Pembroke vs King's, with the losers heading home (good luck James and co!)