Good evenings agan friends, and welcome to an unexpected edition of UC! Normally, we start the second phase of the QFs with a qualifier match, then an eliminator match and alternating accordingly; but this series, TPTB have decided to go with the Only Connect approach of doing the eliminators first, then the qualifiers, which actually makes a lot more sense. Speaking of OC, I'm thinking of creating a Wiki for the show like I did for Fifteen-to-One last year; if enough people like the idea, I'll go ahead and do it in the coming weeks. Anyway, on with UC...
Birmingham had a comfortable first two rounds, beating Sussex and St Andrews by comfortable margins, but then lost a very good close first QF match against Reading. They were the same foursome as before:
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
King's College London won closer first round matches over Glasgow and Hertford of Oxford, before being overwhelmed by Imperial in their first QF. They were also unchanged from before:
Ananth Sathyanath, from Fareham in Hampshire, studying Medicine
Rachel Bedwin, from South East London, studying Developmental Biology
Captain: Atyab Rahid, from Daventry, graduated in Philosophy
Oliver Beard, from South East London, graduated in the History of War
So off we set again, and it was Mr Beard who opened the scoring with 'pulse'; this gave the London side a bonus set on places that include the names of Star Trek characters in them, which they got none of, unluckily offering the character instead of the place for the last. Birmingham lost five on the next starter, one I remember coming up on UC many years back; Mr Rashid got the right answer of 'gossip', and bonuses of Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples proved more to their liking, two correct. Ms Bedwin then took two starters in a row, but only one bonus was taken out of the resulting six. The first picture round, on literary family trees, also went to King's, who took another sole bonus, which gave them a lead of 70-(-10).
Birmingham finaly returned to positive equity on the next starter with Mr McParlan taking the points; bonuses on characters in Homer's Odyssey gave them two correct answers. Back came King's with Mr Beard doing the honours, and bonuses on medical physics finally provided the London side with a full house of bonuses. Mr Sathyanath then ensured all four of his team had a starter to their name, but bonuses on French art saw them draw a blank. The music starter saw Mr Robinson identify De La Soul; bonuses on songs that sample James Brown's Funk Drummer, gave Birmingham two correct bonuses, which cut the gap to 100-30.
Mr Bartelle then gave Birmingham a second starter in a row, which led to a bonus set on owls in literature, which saw them take the gimme answer of 'the Owl and the Pussycat', but not the other two. The Birmingham captain then took another starter in a row though; bonuses on astronomy gave them just the one correct, but Mr Robinson then gave them a fourth starter in a row, and a single bonus meant they'd cut the gap down to one perfect 25. The second picture round, on illustrations of scenes from the works of Edgar Allen Poe, gave Birmingham the starter they needed, but just one bonus meant they still trailed 100-90.
They had nonetheless closed the gap right up though, setting up a sprint finish. King's blinked first as Mr Rashid provided 'Manchu' for the next starter; bonuses on anthropologists gave them just one correct again, but every little helped in their position. Back came Birmingham with Mr Bartelle doing the honours though, and a timely full bonus set on home and foreign secretaries meant the teams were now level. Next starter would probably win it; just for drama, the next was dropped. Mr Rashid looked very pleased as he took the next crucial one for King's, as he had every right to in the circumstances, and bonuses on geometry gave them a timely clean sweep of their own. The next starter was dropped, and there was no time for the last to be completed; at the gong, King's won 140-115.
Another engaging contest between two good teams well matched on the buzzer, well played both. Well done to King's and best of luck in the play-off round! Hard lines to Birmingham, who just fell short after a fine recovery, but they've had a fine run this series, thanks very much to them for taking part!
The stats: Mr Rashid was the best buzzer of the night with four starters, taking his running total to 16, while Messrs Robinson and Bartelle were Birmingham's joint best with three, the latter ending their run their best buzzer with 17 over four matches. On the bonuses, Birmingham managed 11 out of 21 (with two penalties) and King's 11 out of 27 (with one penalty), so it was two extra starters that won it for King's.
Next week's match: I would guess the second eliminator between St John's and Trinity, but given my track record this series, who knows?!
Mastermind was narrowly won by
Ashleigh Evans, who led after the specialist rounds with 11 and just about
maintained that lead to win with 18, two clear of second place Jason Hill; Eva
Harrison and Sirin Kamalvand also took part and finished with 15 and 12
respectively.
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