University Challenge 2021-22: Round 2: Match 7: Birmingham vs St Andrews

Good evening friends, and welcome to the final regular UC of 2021! We break for the usual two week Christmas break, during which we get daily Christmas UC of course, after tonight; hopefully I'll remember to review that in two parts this year! Only Connect and Mastermind will be business as usual next Monday, though, so I'll be doing a quick mini blog to cover them next Monday. On with tonight's business now though...

Birmingham ran up the second highest score of the second round as they trounced the unfortunate Sussex team 245-10. They were unchanged from that match: 

Mark McParlan, from Crosby near Liverpool, studying History and English

John Robinson, from Birmingham (originally Sevenoaks), studying Literature and Culture

Captain: Michael Joel Bartelle, from San Antonio, Texas, studying Shakespeare Studies

Jaimy Sajit, from Derby, studying Medicine

 

St Andrews were much narrower winners in their first match, 140-135, but their opponents Emmanuel were good enough to recover and reach the second round via the repechage. Hoping to join them were the also unchanged foursome of: 

Alastair Fennell, from Edinburgh, studying Experimental Physics

Harry Alderson, from Shelford in Cambridgeshire, studying Physics

Captain: Jack Wigg, from Glasgow, studying Maths

Aine McMenamin, from London, studying Classics

 

So off we set for the final time this year, and the first starter seemed bizarre at first, but Mr McParlan eventually spotted that Paxo was listing teams who competed in the first ever FA Cup; Birmingham took one bonus on medieval Britain. The second starter was one that suddenly became obvious; when 'first black woman on a US presidential ticket' was heard, Mr Bartelle duly supplied 'Kamala Harris', and two bonuses on Australian states were taken. A penalty dropped St Andrews into the minuses, and gave the Brum captain a second starter in a row, from which they took another sole bonus. The Scots side recovered by taking the first picture round, on pairs of flags of nations with shared languages; two correct cut their arrears to 50-15.

Back rose Birmingham though thanks to Mr Robinson, giving them a bonus set on French composers which they took just one of. St Andrews were now finding their buzzer fingers though, as Ms McMenamin took the next starter, giving them bonuses on German history which they got one correct of. A second starter in a row went to St Andrews, and a sole bonus was nonetheless sufficient to put them within twenty points. Mr Robinson took the next starter though, and a full bonus set meant they now had double their opponents' score. They also took the music round, on classical recordings made at the Columbia 30th Street Studio; one bonus correct took their lead to 105-45.

A very quick and well anticipated buzz from Mr Robinson only increased that score, giving Birmingham a rather complex bonus set on chemical symbols and physical quantities, which they impressively took a full house of. Mr Alderson gave a quick buzz of his own to get St Andrews back into the game; bonuses on terms beginning 'theo' gave the Scots side another sole correct answer. But another starter to Mr Robinson, a full bonus set on film, and a second starter in a row taken by Mr Bartelle meant Birmingham now had a three figure lead and were nearly home and safe; bonuses on ducks gave them one correct. The second picture round, on paintings depicting mental illness, also went to Birmingham; one correct bonus meant they now led 185-60, and were pretty much home and dry.

This was confirmed when Mr Fennell took a valiant early buzz on the next starter, but lost five; Ms Sajit took the points, though no bonuses followed. A second penalty for a 'just an' interruption dropped St Andrews back further, before what looked like an educated guess gave Mr Bartelle a starter that took Birmingham past 200 again; two bonuses were taken. Mr Robinson took the final starter of the game, but they couldn't add any further points before the gong; nonetheless, Birmingham won 225-50.

Another one sided but still enjoyable contest. Well done to Birmingham, another excellent performance, this time against a team we've seen are a capable outfit, marks them out as a team to watch; best of luck in the QFs! Hard lines to St Andrews, who we know can play better than that; thanks very much indeed for playing!

The stats: Mr Bartelle was just the best buzzer of the night with six starters to Mr Robinson's five, while Mr Alderson was best for St Andrews with two. On the bonuses, Birmimgham managed 19 out of 37 and St Andrews out of 12 (with three penalties).

And that's it for regular UC this year; the Xmas series starts next Monday, and we resume in the New Year with Exeter vs Imperial on the 3rd of January.

Only Connect pitted the Ramblers against the Muppets in the third quarter-final. The teams were level at 2-all after the first round, before the Ramblers opened a 5-3 lead after the second. Six points each on the wall left the lead at 11-8 going into Missing Vowels, which only increased the gap to give the Ramblers an 18-9 win.

 

Mastermind was won by Dom Walker with 24 points, with Claire Spinks second with 21 and Shajeev Wanigasekara just behind on 20; Ruth Joesbury also competed, finishing with 13. No Xmas celebrity editions on BBC1 this year though it looks like.