University Challenge 2022-23: Play-Off Quarter-Final 2: Southampton vs Newnham

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to JOW! I'll be honest, I'm a bit burnt out at the moment, so its going to be streamlined reviews for the rest of this series. But I'll hopefully still be able to do my semi-final and grand final previews as usual, though my review of the final itself will have to wait a few days as I'm going to be away the week it's on. Anyway, we'll worry about that later; for today, the final quarter-final, between two fine teams both of whom would be worthy semi-finalists...

 

Southampton beat Balliol of Oxford and Christ's of Cambridge to reach the QFs, where they initially lost to Durham, before recovering with a 180-65 win over Robert Gordon. They were the same foursome as those four prior games:

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

 

Newnham College Cambridge lost to Courtauld in R1, rebounded to beat Sheffield and Cardiff to reach the QFs, lost again to Bristol when there, but were then very easy 215-115 winners over Jesus. They were also the same quartet as those five previous outings:

Bethan Holloway-Strong, from Surrey and Australia, studying English

Hannah Bowen, from Gateshead, studying German, Russian and Polish

Captain: Roma Ellis, from Nottingham, studying Philosophy 

Chén Zhiyu, from Suzhou in China, studying the History of Science

 

So, off we set once again, and Newnham started the stronger, taking the first two starters and two bonuses from both resulting sets. Southampton quickly bit back with two of their own, including an unlucky buzz from Ms Chénas she offered the country 'Hungary' instead of the capital 'Budapest', to level the scores; the Saints also took the first picture round, on 'Hello World' coding programmes, after which they led 55-35. Another starter to Southampton yielded no bonuses; Newnham duly took two in a row, which levelled the scores up again. But Southampton took the music round, on countertenor roles in opera, and one bonus meant they led 80-65.

A penalty to Newnham and three starters to Southampton, including a couple of very good quick buzzes from Mr Lyon, further the Solentsiders' lead, but a rather low bonus rate, usually one per set, meant Newnham were still within touching distance. The Cambridge side did take the second picture round, on artworks using gold leaf, after which they trailed 120-80. A second starter in a row then went to Newnham, but no bonuses followed, and, when Mr Belcher took the next starter, his side were within sight of victory; one bonus on astronomy was taken. Newnham could still catch them, and gave it a fine go, Ms Ellis and Ms Bowen taking the final two starters of the game, but one bonus from each set meant they didn't quite make it. At the gong, Southampton won 135-120.

A good close game to end the quarter-finals, played in great spirit by two pleasant teams, well played both! Well done Southampton, worthy semi-finalists and best of luck in them! Hard lines to Newnham, but going out in the quarter-finals is no disgrace and they've been a very watchable team all series; thanks very much for playing!

The stats: Mr Belcher was the best buzzer of the night with five, while Ms Ellis was, again, best for Newnham with four, meaning she ends the series their best buzzer with 30 starters over six games. On the bonuses, Southampton managed 9 out of 27 and Newnham 10 out of 24 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: the first semi-final! Don't know whose playing yet, will let you know on Twitter as soon as I do so.