Monday, 26 December 2022

Christmas University Challenge 2022: Matches 1-5 (Monday 19th - Friday 23rd)

Greetings friends! Hope you all had a good Christmas yesterday! I suppose mine was sufficient. Anyway, I meant to do this yesterday, but, mea culpa, I forgot, so, let's do this now. Hopefully, doing this while trying to watch Death in Paradise at the same time won't be too distracting...

Monday 19th: SOAS vs Balliol Oxford
SOAS: Alys Tomlinson, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Emma Dabiri, Sherelle Jacobs
Balliol: Elizabeth Kiss, Andrew Copson, Martin Edwards, Martin O'Neill

The series kicked off with a match that was won on the bonuses; the two teams were pretty well matched on the buzzer, but SOAS only managed 3 of their 18 bonuses, compared to the 17 Balliol managed from their eight sets. The Oxford side thus won 155-75, which was enough to ensure they'd qualified for the semis at the end of the week.

Tuesday 20th: University Oxford vs Glasgow
University: Sophie Solomon, Owen Jones, Paul Gambaccini, Ivo Graham
Glasgow: Helen Smith, Alana Vincent, Chris Brookmyre, Tamara Galloway

University started out stronger, taking the first three correct starters, but then Glasgow dominated the rest of the contest and pulled well away. University did get a couple more starters late on, but the game was done by then. Glasgow won 110-75, a score which sadly won't bring them back later this week.

Wednesday 21st: Durham vs York
Durham: Gillian Foulger, Simon Parson, Chris Terrill, Emma Chapman
York: David Conn, Vanessa Kind, Tom Scott, Sophie Woodward

York dominated this game, Mr Scott and Ms Kind both answering five starters each, and a solid haul of 19 bonuses went with them. Durham weren't bad, just in thr wrong place at the wrong time. York won 200-45, a score which will easily see them back later this week.

Thursday 22nd: Exeter Oxford vs Queen Mary
Exeter: Alexandra Watson, Sanchia Berg, Reeta Chakrabarti, Andy Anson
Queen Mary: Nighat Arif, Lynsey Hansen, Lucy Siegle, George Parker

A comfortable start from Exeter saw them race into an early lead, before their opponents got some points on the board, but not enough to seriously trouble them at any point. Again, a decent team performance from Exeter, with all four players contributing well; they won 150-70, a score which, as confirmed by tonight's game, will bring them back.

Friday 23rd: Hull vs West of England
Hull: Katharine Norbury, James Graham, Sian Reese-Williams, Graeme Hall
West of England: Ita O'Brien, Rebecca Salter, Victoria Gill, Seyi Rhodes

West of England got the first starter of the game, but Hull then pulled away and looked comfortable for the rest of the game as the starters just didn't fall for their opponents. Hull won the game 135-35, and, unless tomorrow's winners beat that score, they'll be back later this week too.

So, York and Balliol were confirmed as being through at the end of the week; Exeter are now confirmed after tonight's game, and, if tomorrow's winners score 130 or less, Hull will be back too. Whatever happens, we await the remaining matches as eagerly as the ones so far.

Back on Sunday, if I remember, with my review of this week's games. Until then, have a safe and Happy New Year, and sayonara...

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