OK people, here we are once again: another University Challenge semi-finals. The tenth I've covered on this blog. So, here, as usual, is my preview of them, beginning with a reminder of the lineup:
- Imperial College London (Max Zeng, Fatima Sheriff, Michael Mays and Gilbert Jackson) Reached the quarter-finals via two comfortable victories, firstly beating fellow quarter-finalists St John's 210-155, then Exeter 205-70 in the second. Came straight through to the semis by beating King's 235-50 and fellow semi-finalists Reading 225-120. A strong team on the buzzers, with all four players contributing, and generally decent on the bonuses as well; the most consistant of the semi-finalists thus far, they will probably start as favourites for the title.
- Edinburgh (Ben Russell Jones, Lewis Thomas, Rishi Sundar and Al Karunaratne) Scored the highest first round score as they defeated Peterhouse of Cambridge 270-80, before winning an excellent close second round match against Bristol 185-175. Also came straight through the QFs, beating Trinity comfortably 230-95, before winning another close match against fellow semi-finalists Emmanuel 150-145. Another strong collegiate team on the buzzer, though prone to penalties, and also reasonably good on the bonuses; probably the second favourites to win the series.
- Emmanuel College Cambridge (Nicole Pullinger, Nicholas Thatte, Kara Malcolm and James Wrathall) Narrowly lost to St Andrews 140-135 in the first round, but reached the QFs by beating RNCM 180-115 and St Catharine's of Cambridge 125-120. Their QF run saw them beat St John's 155-140, narrowly lose that match to Edinburgh, before that low scoring 85-80 win over King's saw them through to the semis. Reasonable on the buzzer and on the bonuses; certainly capable on their day, but they will probably be underdogs to take the title in this line-up.
- Reading (Sylvian Jesudoss, Margaret Ounsley, Michael Hutchinson and Kira Bishop) Beat Strathclyde 175-110 in the first round, and Dundee 245-50 in the second. Started the QFs by winning a good match against Birmingham 170-135, before slipping up in that defeat to Imperial; recovered though well by beating St John's 145-70 this Monday just gone by. A strong team on the buzzers, with Mr Hutchinson among the best of the series and Ms Ounsley provided ample support, while their bonus rate has ranged from half to two thirds; also a very capable team on their day and, while also probable outsiders, definitely not to be written off.
Another good semi-final line-up; the first since the first series I covered on this blog, 2012-13, that there's only one Oxbridge team in the line-up as well.
So, the draw. Well, as revealed by Imperial on Twitter earlier in the week, they will be playing Emmanuel in the first semi-final this Monday coming, which leaves Edinburgh vs Reading the week afterwards. So, how do I see these games going?
Well, you would have to say Imperial will be heavy favourites to win on Monday, having been comfortably stronger than Emmanuel thus far. That's not to say the Cambridge side should be written off altogether; anything is possible in an individual game, and we saw how they gave Edinburgh a close run in the QFs. On the form so far, however, it's hard to see beyond an Imperial win.
Meanwhile, the second semi would probably be much closer, as the two teams are about the same on the buzzer, and both have proven themselves capable of comfortable wins over strong opponents. If Edinburgh dominate the buzzer as well as they did against Trinity, they'll win easily; if they're a bit shaky and prone to errors like against Emmanuel, Reading are certainly capable of capitalising. This one is too close for me to call, but I'm probably just about favouring Edinbugh.
So, my 'forced' prediction for this year is an Imperial-Edinburgh final this year. But neither semi-final is a foregone conclusion, the second especially; as I said before, anything is possible in a stand-alone game. At the very least, we should hopefully get three good games to finish the series on!
Best of retrospective luck, then, to all four semi-finalist teams; hopefully, we get a strong end to the series!
Back on Monday as usual with my write-up of the first semi.
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