So, here I am again, writing about tonight's University Challenge. I really must start thinking of other things to post about on here as well. Whoever won tonight would join Trinity in the semis; the runners-up would join SOAS and Manchester in the playoffs.
Somerville College Oxford were one of the 'ones to watch' in the second round after beating Pembroke College Cambridge in Round 1; they have subsequently defeated York comfortable and Clare narrowly after trailing throughout. A team to be taken seriously, unchanged from their preliminary, were:
Sam Walker, from Stafford, studying Physics
Zac Vermeer, from Sydney, studying Law
Captain: Michael Davies, from Blackburn, studying PPE
Chris Beer, from Blyborough in Lincolnshire, studying English Literature
Southampton, of course, came through the repechage, and have since comfortably beaten Loughborough, before utterly trouncing Bangor and Queen's without ever being challenged. Something told me they might have a bit more a challenge tonight; they remained the same as before:
David Bishop, from Reading, studying Physics
Richard Evans, from Frimley in Surrey, studying Chemistry
Captain: Bob De Caux, from West Sussex, studying Complex Systems Simulation
Matt Loxham, from Preston, studying Respiratory Toxicology
Not much between these two teams on paper, with Southampton having slightly more points on aggregate. But Somerville points were earned against stronger opponents. Either way, hard to call.
Somerville started stronger, with Chris Beer quickly getting the first three starters. The fourth starter was dropped, before JOW reader and contibutor Richard 'Cromarty(IV)' Evans got Southampton going with the fifth. Neither side got the first picture starter, before Chris Beer took his fourth starter of the night, winning his side the picture bonuses, on logos of international organisations.
Somerville now led 70-20, and Mr Beer's colleagues might have wanted to have their buzzers checked to see if they actually worked! JOW reader Bob De Caux moved Southampton further forward, but a set of bonuses on eye defects proved no use to the side. Somerville moved ahead with the next starter, and seemed to annoy Paxo by sweeping up the bonuses easily! "Some people find these questions quite difficult," he exclaimed, "there's no need to dismiss them with such contempt!"
This seemed to rile Paxo, as when Chris Beer quickly took the music starter, Herb Alpert's performance of Spanish Flea', he couldn't believe he was so quick to admit knowing that! The side got nothing from the bonuses, meaing their lead was now 105-30. Southampton needed to get a move on if they were going to catch up, but Somerville wouldn't let them, and were soon well ahead. Matt Loxham did manage to bring the side back into the game, and a full set of bonuses ensured they wouldn't be joining the 'Sub 50 club'.
The second picture starter went to the usually brilliant Zac Vermeer, who'd been having a rather quiet evening on the buzzer. The bonuses took their lead to 175-55. Not much chance of Richard and co catching them, but they could still reach respectability with a good rally. Somerville kept on their buzzing brilliance, with two more starters, and two thirds of the resultant bonuses. With the match won, they then relaxed their hands on the buzzer, and allowed Southampton to claw back some ground.
Richard and co rallied in the final minutes, getting a few starters, and a good handful of bonuses, but just falling short of reaching 100; at the gong, Somerville won 215-95. Bad luck lads, but, like with SOAS, you were beaten by a good team, and did respectably considering; best of luck in your play-off, whoever you face. Well done Somerville; another fine performance, and we shall see you in the semis!
After that explosive early run on the buzzer, Chris Beer quietened down somewhat later on, finishing with six starters, while Richard, Bob and Matt Loxham got two each for Southampton. Both sides did good with the bonuses, Somerville getting a very good 21 out of 33, and Southampton a decent 8 out of 16 (with one late penalty).
Were this an old format series, we'd now have a final of Trinity vs Somerville. What a match that'd be; I have no idea who'd win that! Maybe we'll see it yet! We shall wait and see.
Next week, Clare take on Queen's, with the losers joining Cardiff on the way home.
It was all going so well...
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading the comments on these pages over the last few weeks to the tune of "Southampton v Somerville - that should be a good match!" - but the moral of this story is that Somerville are undoubtedly the stronger team. This was a particularly storming performance from them, and they're definitely back in the race for the title after a less decisive win last time. Many congratulations to Messrs Walker, Vermeer, Davies and Beer!
I'm currently working on my now-customary reflections on the game, in which I will hopefully explain how much my memory has cheated me in the months since this encounter was recorded...
I was expecting a somewhat closer match than was the case. Hard to say why it didn't turn that way, though at the start Chris Beer was on fire and sometimes it's tough to recover from a bad start. And maybe the questions just didn't fall for Southampton?
ReplyDeleteEither way, well done Somerville, who deserve their place in the semi finals, and assuming all goes as before then we should see SOAS and Southampton in a rematch in a couple of weeks' time.
Bad luck, Southampton - Somerville are as close to the Oxford A team as any one college can field (and Zach Vermeer is probably the best player currently at Oxford), so there is no shame in losing to them!
ReplyDeleteSomerville earned themselves a score of 199 for that match, for an average of 225. Southampton got 132, for an average of 207 - which as it happens is exactly the same as SOAS'. I wonder how that rematch would go...