University Challenge 2023-24: Preliminary Quarter-Final 4: U.C.L. vs Christ Church

Good evening again my friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! Which is coming close to being done, with OC finished and UC and Mastermind both having single digit numbers of shows left after tonight. It's also the time of year where I begin to think about whether I'm going to carry on with this blog next season, and in what form if so. I've come to a preliminary decision, but its very preliminary; more on that coming up nearer the end of the series. For now, on with business as usual...

 

U.C.L. won a low-ish scoring first round game over King's of Cambridge, before a higher scoring one saw them beat the fancied Hertford of Oxford team 225-140 thanks to a late sprint. They were the same unchanged foursome as before:

James Hall, from North Finchley, studying Law

Ali Izzatdust, from Portugal and Azerbaijan, studying Intellectual History

Captain: Tayana Sawh, from North London, studying Medicine

Jacob Finlay, from Cranleigh in Surrey, studying Public Administration

 

Christ Church Oxford won two close contests to get here, firstly beating Southampton in the first round, and then a very tight second round win over Emmanuel of Cambridge 155-130. They were also the same quartet as twice before:

Eliza Dean, from Edinburgh, studying French and Classics

Melika Gorgianeh, from Leeds, studying Astrophysics

Captain: Arthur Wotton, from Cardiff, studying Spanish

Elliot Lowe, from Thames Ditton in Surrey, studying Classics

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Izzatdust, impressive in the earlier rounds, who opened the scoring for the night, and his team followed it up with a full set of bonuses. After no-one even buzzed on the second starter, Christ Church took the third, and a full set went to them too. The Londoners retook the lead with the next two starters, one of which a very good quick buzz; all three bonuses came with the first set, but none from the second. They did also take the first picture round, on non-Islamic flags and emblems bearing a star and crescent; two bonuses took their lead to 80-25. Two starters in a row to Mr Wotton closed the gap down, as did three of the resulting six bonuses. Mr Izzatdust reawoke the London side, and a pair of bonuses took them into three figures. No-one took the music starter; the bonuses, on piano quintets, went to Christ Church, but none were answered correctly, leaving the gap at 100-70.

A penalty to the Oxford side allowed U.C.L. to increase the lead again; just one bonus followed, but the same thing then happened again: Christ Church lose five, U.C.L. pick up and take one bonus too. A third penalty to the Oxonians, another pick-up and two bonuses this time, and AR delivered the immortal words "plenty of time Christ Church". Another starter and pair of bonuses meant the Londoners now led by over 100 points though. The second picture, on self-portraits with friends, also went to U.C.L.; no bonuses followed, but their lead now stood at 170-55. Christ Church finally pulled some points back with a starter and single bonus on musical instruments. But U.C.L. all but confirmed their win when Mr Izzatdust took the next starter; two bonuses on Greek myth took them to 200. Christ Church did manage a late flurry, with Mr Lowe taking the next starter and a fairly easy (and topical) bonus set on African footballers being swept clean, before two further starters and half the resulting bonuses took them to a decent enough final score. At the gong, U.C.L. won 200-130.

A pretty decent contest, but those three starters just after the music round ultimately proved decisive. Well done U.C.L., and best of luck in the qualification round! Hard lines to Christ Church; best of luck in the eliminators!

The stats: Mr Izzatdust was, again, the best buzzer of the night with six starters, while Messrs Wotton and Lowe got three each for Christ Church. On the bonuses, U.C.L. managed 18 out of 33 and Christ Church 13 out of 24 (with three penalties).

Next week's match: Manchester vs Imperial in the first qualifier, to be followed, I'm assuming, by Birkbeck vs Sheffield, Trinity vs U.C.L. and Open vs Christ Church.

Mastermind was won by Rashid Mumtaz, whose 22 points saw him comfortably win, five clear of joint second Max Wright and Heather O’Hagan with 17 each. Nicola Robertson completed the line-up with 12.

 

We also had a repeat of an Only Connect special from a few years ago (with at least one more on the way next week), and, I must say, seeing the contestants sitting so close together on it was rather jarring! Made me realise that, despite the distancing measures being abolished this series just finished (must remember to add that to the Wiki at some point), the contestants are still sitting further apart than they used to. Suppose the fact they all have their own buzzers now rather than just one for the three of them probably has something to do with that too.

 

Quick mention of Counterpoint too, as I’m pretty sure that was OC and UC alumnus Andrew Fisher coming second by just a point on that this afternoon.