University Challenge 2022-23: Round 2: Match 7: Christ's vs Southampton

Good evening again friends, and welcome back! Tonight, the penultimate second round match, between two teams making their first Monday night appearance on the show, both their first round matches having come during the show's brief move to Tuesdays last Autumn. Both had very different victories in the first round, so seeing how they fared against proven opponents would be most interesting.

Christ's College Cambridge trailed Oriel of Oxford for most of their first match, before an impressive late sprint saw them edge ahead of their opponents to win 150-130. They were unchanged from that first appearance: 

Isaac Jackson, from Oxford, studying English

Holly Wright, from Swansea, studying Intellectual History

Captain: Chris Talbot, from Blackburn, studying Metallurgy

Abhimanyu Gowda, from Warwick, studying Natural Sciences

 

Southampton met another Oxford team, Balliol, in the first round, and after a close first period, ran away with it and ultimately won easily 210-115, one of the highest scores of the round. They were also the same quartet as before: 

Ethan Lyon, from Northampton, studying Film

Magda Steele, from Poland, studying Ecology

Captain: Dom Belcher, from Worcestershire, studying Machine Learning 

Elliot Miles, from the Wirral, studying Marine Biology 

 

So, off we set once again then, and Southampton pounced on an immediate error from their opponents, and rubbed it in by taking a full set of bonuses on winners of the Berlin Film Festival's Teddy award. Christ's responded well by taking the next starter to get back into three figures, but they could only follow it up with one bonus. Mr Belcher gave Southampton a second starter, but, in a reversal of fortune, bonuses on Cumbria gave them no further points. The first picture round, on islands that contain their country's highest mountain, went to Christ's; another sole bonus took their deficit to 35-25.

 

Mr Belcher immediately enlarged it again by taking the next starter though; the Saints took two bonuses, before Ms Steele gave them a second starter in a row, which was followed by a single bonus. Mr Belcher zigged with cricket balls and lost five on the next starter; if he'd waited, 'yellow' would've probably allowed him to zag with 'tennis balls, as Mr Gowda subsequently did. The Cambridge side duly took two bonuses on pairs of letters. Southampton quickly got their points back with another starter and single bonus though. The music starter was then dropped; the bonuses, on classical pieces that are their composer's only (completed) work of its genre, went to Christ's, who took just one again, which increased their lead to 95-45.

 

A quick buzz from Mr Talbot brought his side back into the game, and a bonus set on Indian cricket grounds gave them two correct answers. Southampton matched it as Mr Belcher took another starter, but they only managed just one bonus again, though Paxo was perhaps a bit generous to accept 'liberalism' when he wanted 'libertarianism'. And when Ms Wright took the next correct starter, and the Cambridge side took a full bonus set on chemical elements, they were just twenty behind and it was either team's game. Southampton's impressive captain kept his nerve to take the next starter though, but, again, the bonuses didn't fall for them. The Saints did take the second picture round though, on parents and children who both seperately won Nobel Prizes; no bonuses followed again, but they had at least increased their lead a bit more, 130-90.

 

But when Mr Belcher took yet another starter, and they finally got a bonus set to their liking, a full set on Chinese dynasties, that was game over. Another starter to the impressive Saints captain made doubly sure of it, and they capped it with two bonuses on marine biology. Neither side got the final starter of the game, and that was the gong; Southampton won 175-90.

 

A pretty decent contest, reasonably close until the very final minutes. Well done to Southampton, another decent performance despite a slow bonus rate (though, like Jesus two weeks ago, we know they're capable of better), and best of luck in the quarter-finals! Hard lines to Christ's, but they did pretty well for themselves as well, thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Belcher was easily the best buzzer of the night with NINE(!) starters (the most for a single player so far this series I think), while Ms Wright and Mr Talbot were joint best for Christ's with two each. On the bonuses, Christ's managed 9 out of 15 and Southampton 14 out of 33, and both sides incurred one penalty each.

Next week's match: Durham vs Bangor in the last second round match (ten years since that last happened...)

Only Connect concluded its quarter-finals with the Cunning Planners vs the Crustaceans. The teams were tied on 4-each after the first round, before the latter opened a narrow lead of 7-6 after the second.  Two perfect walls meant it was as you were, 17-16 going into Missing Vowels, and the Crustaceans just about kept their noses in front to win 22-20.

 

Mastermind was won by James Beeby, who survived a mid-GK round wobble to edge the game with 21 points, two clear of second place Hannah Loxton. Matt Carther and Wendy Knipe completed the closely fought contest with 17 and 18 respectively.

 

Counterpoint’s semi-final line-up is now two thirds complete after today’s show; Sally Wilson became the sixth player to join it, winning an all-female line-up to do so.