University Challenge 2022-23: Preliminary Quarter-Final 4: Jesus vs U.C.L.

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to now slightly shorter Quizzy Mondays! With OC done now, we're down to just Mastermind, which is nearly finished now too, and UC, which, thanks to the later than usual start, still has a fair way to go yet. Tonight, the last two quarter-finalists enetered the phase; winners join Durham, Royal Holloway and Bristol in the qualifiers, runners-up up would join Southampton, Robert Gordon and Newnham in the eliminators.

 

Jesus College Cambridge were comfortably winners over two Oxford teams in their first two matches, firstly St Catharine's in the first round 225-105 in the first round, and then University College 160-85 in the second. They were unchanged from those previous games:

Josh Kaye, from North West London, studying Maths

Juliet Tindall, from Birmingham, studying Spanish and Portuguese

Captain: Hamish MacGregor, from Cambridge, studying Cancer Genetic Epidemiology

Sumit Aggarwal, from London, studying Engineering

U.C.L., in contrast, have had two very close wins so far, firstly beating Sheffield on a tie-breaker after a 170-each draw in the first round, and then in the second, they edged past Newcastle 180-170 on the last starter of the game. They were also the same quartet as before:

Rachel Collier, from West London, studying the History of Ancient Greek

Michael Fleetwood-Walker, from the West Midlands, studying Urban Studies

Captain: James Salmon, from Bristol, studying Planetary Science

Louis Collier, from London, studying Physics with Maths

 

So, off we set once again, and an immediate penalty from U.C.L. allowed Jesus to take the first starter of the game; bonuses on Sweyn Forkbeard provided the Cambridge side with two correct answers. The Londoners quickly bounced back though as Mr Salmon took the next two starters, and two bonuses from each set gave them the lead. The first picture starter was missed by both teams; the bonuses, on locations of large favelas in Brazil, went to U.C.L., who took one correct bonus this time, which took their lead to 50-20.

Another penalty allowed Jesus a way back into the game though, with a single bonus reducing the gap back down to ten. But Ms Collier took the next starter to increase the lead again, which gave U.C.L. a classic UC set on pairs of words differing only in the first letter being the next one along in the alphabet, which they took another pair of. Mr Salmon took another starter, with many more to come, and bonuses on East African geography provided them with a full set. The music round, on classical pieces that precede storms, went to Jesus; just one bonus meant they now trailed 90-50.

Mr Salmon moved his side into three figures by identifying Dortmund for the next starter, and providing a crossover with tonight's Mastermind! Another two bonuses went the London side's way, before Mr Aggarwal gave Jesus further points, which was followed up by just the one bonus. U.C.L. then lost another five, but this time Jesus were unable to take advantage; the impressive Mr Salmon recouped those points as he took the next starter, which was also followed by just one bonus. The London side also took the second picture round, on paintings critiqued by Vernon Lee; two bonuses took their lead to 140-65.

Jesus would need to run the game from now on to stand a chance of catching up; Mr Kaye helped by taking the next starter, but no bonuses from the resulting set didn't exactly help their chances. Mr MacGregor taking the next starter did, as did two bonuses on books whose titles begin 'A Brief History of'. But Mr Salmon took yet another starter next, which was followed by two bonuses on backgammon, which pretty much finished the match as a contest. Jesus deservedly reached three figures as Mr Kaye took the next starter, but no bonuses went with it. There was time three more starters; Mr Fleetwood-Walker and the imperious Mr Salmon took two of them for U.C.L., and it didn't really matter that just one of the resulting bonuses went with them. Mr MacGregor took the last starter of the game, but there was no time for bonuses; at the gong, U.C.L. won 185-115.

Another enjoyable contest even if it was a rather comfortable one throughout. Well done to U.C.L., another very solid showing, and against proven opponents too; best of luck in the qualifiers! Hard lines to Jesus, who were simply outbuzzed there, but they certainly aren't out of contention yet; best of luck in the eliminators!

The stats: Mr Salmon was by far and away the best buzzer of the night with NINE(!) starters, while Mr MacGregor was best for Jesus with three. On the bonuses, Jesus managed 7 out of 21 and U.C.L. 18 out of 33 (with three penalties).

Next week's match: I am informed it is Durham vs Royal Holloway in the first qualifier

Mastermind’s second semi-final was won by Stephen Finn, who led after the specialist rounds, and ended up comfortable winner after the GK round with 23 points, five ahead of second placed Blake Robinson. Anna Milford Goldstein (whose passing was sadly announced at the end of the show) and Colin Rogers-March completed the line-up with 14 and 16.

 

Counterpoint’s second semi-final was won by Kathryn Johnson, who won out ahead of Jo East and Shanine Salmon to take the second place in the final in two weeks’ time.