Evening all. We're back! After last week's brief pause for the LIVE athletics, which also resulted in Mastermind getting a week off as well, and both Match of the Days running late, though most are OK with that given Team GB's superb gold in the relay, even if poor Bolt was the main talking point. On with tonight, and the ever much anticipated first Oxbridge derby of the season!
St Edmund's College Cambridge was founded in 1896, and mainly caters for mature students; alumni include Thatcher ministry stalwart Norman St John-Stevas and Georges Lemaitre, originator of the Big Bang theory. (Not that one!) It hasn't appeared on UC very much in modern times, its last appearance being in 2003-04, where they reached the QFs. This year's foursome were:
Zou Tang-Sheng, from Singapore, studying Chemical Engineering
Alex Knight-Williams, from Putney, studying Mathematics
Captain: Sahaid Motala, from London, studying Economics
Ryan Blank, from San Jose, studying History
Magdalen College Oxford is the joint holder of the record for most UC series wins, all achieved under Paxo in 1996-97, 1997-98, 2003-04 and 2010-11. Founded in 1458, it's alumni include poets Wilde and Betjeman, magazine salesman Ian Hislop and political commentator turned dancer John Sergeant. The last Magdalen team to enter UC finished runners-up three series ago. This year's quartet were:
Winston Wright, from Seattle, studying Computer Science
Christopher Stern, from Dulwich, studying Chemistry
Captain: Johnny Gibson, from Glasgow, studying History
Sarah Parkin, from Hinckley, studying English and French
Off we set again then, and Mr Zou opened the night's scoring, and St Edmund's took two bonuses of the first set of the match. Mr Gibson got Magdalen running in short order, and they went one better, taking a full bonus set on sleep in the works of Shakespeare. A second starter went the Magdalen skipper's way, and two bonuses followed this time. Mr Knight-Williams then took St Edmund's back into possession, as they took two bonuses again, before pouncing on a Magdalen slip-up and taking another two bonuses. The first picture round, on French philosophical quotations, went to Magdalen, who took two bonuses once again, which left the sides level on 60-each.
It was then St Edmund's who lost five and Magdalen who picked up the drop; they, again, took two of the resultant bonuses on Mayfair. Mr Blank was then maybe a bit lucky to be let off with a slight pause before answering; the resultant bonuses saw a rare moment as Paxo had to double check and make sure that Mr Motala hadn't misheard Mr Zou's conferred answer. Mr Stern then pushed Magdalen further ahead, but bonuses on Spanish patron saints only provided one correct bonus, the first set to have less than two taken of the night.
The music starter was missed by both sides; the bonuses, on film scores whose composers won an Oscar despite having previously received a Golden Raspberry nomination, went to Magdalen, who, again took just the one, leaving their lead at 110-75. A classic UC moment followed as Mr Gibson buzzed in early on a starter requesting a spelling and gave a correct spelling, only for a swerve to reveal that he'd spelt the wrong word! St Edmund's didn't fare much better, but Mr Zou took the next correctly answered starter, only for his side to draw a blank on the resultant bonuses. Mr Gibson made up for his mistake somewhat by taking the Lady of Shallot for the next starter; one bonus followed.
The second picture round, on Chinese cultural artifacts, went to St Edmund's, who went back to taking two bonuses, which reduced their arrears to 120-105. Mr Zou then identified the word 'fluke' for the next starter, but could only provide one correct answer on his home subject of chemistry, which nonetheless leveled the scores going into the final minutes.
A slip-up from St Edmund's then gave Magdalen the lead back again, but they couldn't pick up. Another starter was dropped, before Mr Gibson identified Maine as the most sparsely populated US state east of the Mississippi; they proceeded to not let Paxo finish answering any of the resultant bonuses, taking all three very quickly! Another slip-up from St Edmund's, a pick-up from Magdalen, two bonuses, and that was game over. Mr Gibson added to the score by taking another starter and two more bonuses accompanying. Another St Edmund's penalty ended the match; at the gong, Magdalen won 185-105.
A nice match played well and in good spirit by both sides, that wasn't that one sided until the final minutes. Unlucky St Edmund's, who just fell away near the end and likely won't be back in the play-offs, but good effort and thanks for playing. Well played Magdalen though; not a bad first performance given their decent opposition, and best of luck to them in the second round!
The stats: Mr Gibson was the best buzzer of the night, with six under his belt, while Mr Zou was St Edmund's best with three. On the bonuses, St Edmund's converted 11 out of 21 (with four penalties), while Magdalen managed 19 out of 30 (with two penalties); not bad rate that, could maybe be dark horses for the next round.
Next week's match: York vs Warwick
Only Connect back as usual on Friday, with my review following Sunday. Plus, remember that non-quiz blog series I mentioned a while back? Might start it tomorrow. But we'll see how I feel.
I continue to appreciate both your UC and OC reviews. Just one edit: since the Mississippi River is aligned north-south, Maine is the most sparsely populated state east of the Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteInteresting game, both started off well and the lead swapped hands, but there was a period around the music and second picture rounds where they both failed to answer questions. So far, first 3 matches had aggregates of 320 - 325, this had 290, 30 short which is partially explained by the penalties, will be interesting to see how they get on in the second round.
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