Good evening again my friends, and welcome to the last Quizzy Monday for at least three weeks! Yep, it would appear that UC is also taking a short sabbatical for the Winter Olympics. Which... I'm actually OK with, given the start to the year I've had so far, a short break is actually much appreciated. Back when this blog began, or just before it, I'd have probably not been best pleased, but, right just now, after several continious weeks of coverage, Christmas included, I think I need a rest. Anyway, let's get on with tonight's shows; well, tonight's show, as OC and Mastermind were both repeats tonight, so it's just UC to cover...
Imperial came through the repechage, losing to Churchill of Cambridge in the first round before beating SOAS of London in their play-off, then narrowly edging out an unlucky Southampton side 190-180 to reach the QFs of a sixth series in seven. They were the same foursome as those three previous games:
Rahim Dina, from Peterborough, studying Ecology and Evolution
Eugenia Tong, from Hong Kong, studying Chemistry
Captain: Oscar O'Flanagan, from London, studying Atmospheric Physics
Justin Keung, from Hong Kong, studying Computing
Warwick dramatically defeated fellow quarter-finalists Sheffield in the first match of the series way back in July, before beating the useful Bristol side somewhat less dramatically 180-145 in their second match. They were also the same unchanged quartet as their previous matches:
Josh Howarth, from St Albans, studying History
Antoni Kluzowski, from Chingford in London, studying English Literature and History
Captain: Chris Levesley, from Derby, studying Maths
Lucy Dennett, from South West London, studying Politics and International Studies
Warwick got off to the best possible start, taking the first starter and all three bonuses. Imperial took the second, and two bonuses, and the sequence continued as Warwick took the third and one! Neither side took the first picture starter; the first picture bonuses went to Imperial, who completed the run with none! After that, they trailed 35-30. The two teams then swapped starters, and with them the lead, throughout the second phase of play, resulting in another oddity: that so far, the seven correct starters had been answered by seven different players! Sadly, we didn't get eight out of eight, as Mr Keung took this second of the night in the form of the music starter; after the music bonuses, Imperial led 90-55.
Warwick pulled back into the game with a starter and a couple of bonuses, but Imperial then took two in a row to extend their lead, and reach three figures. The second picture round went to Warwick, which cut their deficit to 120-95. A second starter in a row took Warwick into three figures too and within ten points. There was then another odd moment as both sides lost five points and, on both starters, the other team's answer was disallowed for being too specific. Imperial finally broke the run, and they, or rather their captain Mr O'Flanagan, went on an excellent late run that saw them run away with the game. Their bonus rate did vary a bit, from all of the penultimate set to none of the last, but it didn't really matter. At the gong, Imperial won 190-105.
A good contest, close until Imperial ran away with it late on. Well done them, and best of luck in the qualifiers! Hard lines to Warwick, but they're certainly not out of it yet; best of luck to them in the elimination matches!
The stats: Mr O'Flanagan was the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, at least half of which came in the final minutes I think, while Messrs Kluzowski and Levesley and Ms Dennett were all joint-best for Warwick with two each. On the bonuses, Imperial managed 16 out of 33 and Warwick 11 out of 18, and both sides incurred two penalties each.
As I said earlier, no show next week, or, presumably, the week after due to the Winter Olympics getting priority. We'll probably be resuming on February the 23rd; if I had to guess, I'd say we'd resume with Edinburgh vs Merton in the first qualifier match.
We also got a repeat of the Only
Connect Champion of Champions special from last Christmas, which makes sense
given that they showed all the previous ones, including those from the BBC4
days, in a run of repeats a couple of years ago and this is the only one that
hadn’t been done yet, so a good one to show now when you have just the one free
week to fill in. Whether they’ll show more repeats when QM resumes or just show
Mastermind in the later slot, which I very much doubt, we shall find out in due
course.
And that's it for another week! Thanks as ever for reading; we'll now be taking a few weeks off for the Winter Olympics, and, as I said before, we'll probably be back on the 23rd, but I'll post on Twitter X as soon as we find out for sure. Also, as I said last week, I'm still seriously considering starting posting about other, non-quiz related, things on this blog later in the year; once I get firm ideas on exactly what, I'll get back to yous. Again, if you'd like to see this, let me know on here or on one of the microblogging sites. Anyway, we'll be back after the Winter Olympics, so, whenever that is, see yous then...
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