University Challenge 2018-19: Preliminary Quarter-Final 4: Emmanuel vs St Edmund Hall

Evening all. So Quizzy Mondays is back to normal service here in Scotland this week after last week's interlude. And it likely won't happen again, as BBC2 Scotland came off the air last night; the new BBC Scotland channel, launching on Sunday, will pick up most of the Scotland only programming, rendering it somewhat redundant. Hopefully this will also be the end of having to wait until after Newsnight for QI as well! Anyway, on with tonight's contest.

Emmanuel College Cambridge lost their first round match 200-175 to fellow QFers Glasgow, but survived to the play-offs, where they easily defeated King's of London 235-140, before reaching the group stage with a 195-120 win over St Peter's of Oxford. Hoping to carry on this revival tonight were the unchanged foursome of: 
Connor MacDonald, from New Brunswick, Canada, studying Politics 
Vedanth Nair, from Kings Lynn, studying Economics 
Captain: Dani Cugini, from Warwick, studying English 
Ben Harris, from Bath, studying Geology

St Edmund Hall Oxford took the direct route through the knockout rounds, dispatching York 240-105 in the first round, and then Clare of Cambridge 245-105 in an almost identical manner in the second, their captain leading the charge on the buzzer on both occasions. Hoping to carry on this momentum tonight were the also unchanged quartet of: 
Agastya Pisharody, from India and Basel, studying Material Science 
Marceline Bresson, from the Netherlands, studying Economics and Management 
Captain: Freddie Leo, from Berlin, studying History 
Lizzie Fry, from Worcestershire, studying Geography

Off we set again then, and Mr Nair opened the ball rolling for the night by identifying a list of people involved in the founding of the modern Olympic Games, Baron de Coubertin being the giveaway; the Cambridge side opened the night with a full bonus set on Stockholm, including a welcome mention of the Moomins! Mr Leo, by far and away his side's leading player thus far, got his side moving with the next starter, picking up a slip-up from their opponents; the Oxonians also set their feet firmly down, with a full bonus set. A rare error from the St Edmund Hall captain allowed his opposite number Ms Cugini to take 'cowpox' on the next starter, but just the one bonus fell for them this time. Mr Leo resumed his form on the next starter, and his side also took just a single bonus on physicist Lise Meitner. The first picture round, on the names of English works translated into Spanish, went to St Edmund Hall, who took a full set, and the lead, 60-35.

And up it went again as Mr Leo once again was first in on the next starter; bonuses on coalition governments gave the Oxonians, again, just a single correct bonus. Neither side knew 'mondegreen' as the correct term for a misheard song lyric, though Paxo and myself both rather liked Ms Cugini's guess of 'lyripropism'! The Emmanuel captain dragged her side back into the game on the next starter, but they also managed just a single bonus on multiples of 10,000, including a rare mention of Celtic Park on the show! Those five points then were lost to a slip-up, allowing Mr Leo to resume his buzzer control; St Edmund Hall took two of the resultant bonuses.

The music round, on classical pieces written after their composer had lost their hearing, went to St Edmund Hall; just the one correct bonuses came again, but it gave them a lead of 110-45. It increased when Emmanuel dropped a further five, and Mr Leo swooped in with the pickup; bonuses on actors who played Emily Bronte's Heathcliff gave them just the one correct answer again. Two starters in a row were then dropped, with St Edmund Hall dropping five in the process, before Mr MacDonald reawoke his side with 'Arizona', but his side drew a blank on the resulting bonuses.

The second picture round, on Orientalism in art, went to St Edmund Hall, who took two bonuses, which took their lead to 140-50. And when Mr Leo took his latest starter, and the lead to 100 points, that was game over; two bonuses on physics confirmed this.

A penalty was pretty much immaterial at this point, though Mr Nair was unlucky not to pick up the drop, offering 'Alpha Centauri' instead of 'Centaurus'. Another starter was dropped, and five lost, this time by Emmanuel, before Mr Leo identified Mary Queen of Scots as the last Stuart monarch to only reign in Scotland (unless you count James VI only reigning in Scotland before he became King of England too); one bonus followed, the St Edmund Hall captain instantly recognising the Philharmonic Orchestra of his own home city! And the next starter related to his homeland too; he duly snapped it up, and another two bonuses only served to increase their score and lead. Emmanuel did take the final starter, thus avoiding joining the Sub-50 Club, but there was no time for any bonuses. At the gong, St Edmund Hall won 190-55.

A rather one sided match, but a very lively and strong one all the same. Unlucky Emmanuel, simply outplayed on the buzzer, no shame in that though at this stage, best of luck in the eliminator round. Well done St Edmund Hall though, another impressive showing against strong opponents, and best of luck in the qualifying rounds!

The stats: Mr Leo was, once again, the best buzzer of the night, taking all ELEVEN(!) of his side's correct starters, while Ms Cugini was Emmanuel's best with two. On the bonuses, Emmanuel converted 5 out of 12 (with four penalties), while St Edmund Hall managed 19 out of 33 (with three penalties).

Next week's match: the first qualifying match. Don't know who's playing yet, my guess would be Durham vs Bristol.

Only Connect returned to its usual time this week too, with the match I knew of prior to this series starting thanks to that Radio Times article I've mentioned many times before; review of that hopefully coming up on Thursday.