Hello my friends, and welcome to another, belated, Quizzy Monday! Yep, here we are for the second Tuesday blog of this season, and hopefully the last, although, given how both quizzes are due to finish on the same day, and the last time the Mastermind final was on the same day as UC, it started at the same time and UC was on late, I'm not optimistic. Anyway, this blog has been delayed long enough, so let's get on with it. Coming up, the first Mastermind semi-final, but first, UC, and we'd know the second semi-finalists for that after last night's match...
Sheffield were narrowly beaten by fellow quarter-finalists Warwick in the first round, but have since beaten New College of Oxford, Strathclyde, and in their first quarter-final they beat Darwin 155-115. They were the same unchanged foursome as all those previous matches:
Rhys Lewis, from Haverfordwest, studying Maths
Abdelrahman Elsisi, from Alexandria, Egypt, studying Engineering
Captain: Jacob Price, from Hethersett in Norfolk, studying Astrophysics
Isobel Dobbie, from Haringey in London, studying English Literature
Imperial also came through the repechage, losing to Churchill of Cambridge in the first round, but they've since gone on to beat SOAS of London, Southampton, and in their first quarter-final, a late surge saw them beat the afore-mentioned Warwick 190-105. They were also the same quartet as all those previous occasions:
Rahim Dina, from the Seychelles, 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
Sheffield got off to the better start with the first two correct starters of the game and two thirds of the resulting bonuses. Imperial got off the mark with a starter and pair of bonuses, but the Yorkshire side increased their lead with the first picture round, after which they led 60-20. A couple of successive starters took Imperial to within five points, and a penalty to their opponents allowed them to take a third and with it the lead. Sheffield reawoke with the music round though; after that, they'd retaken the lead 70-65.
Imperial immediately took it back though, two further starters and two pairs of bonuses taking them into three figures first. A penalty allowed Sheffield back into the game though, and two bonuses took them back within ten points. The Londoners reincreased their lead with the second picture round though, after which they led 115-90. A very enthusiastic answer of "Blackberries!" from their captain increased that lead further and put them within sight of victory. Another penalty kept Sheffield in the game, but they couldn't capitalise, and when Mr O'Flanagan capped off a strong night with a further two starters, that was game over. Sheffield did get a couple of late starters to deservedly reach three figures, but there was too much for them to do in the remaining time. At the gong, Imperial won 160-120.
A good enjoyable contest between two fine teams, well played both of them. Well done Imperial, worthy winners and worthy semi-finalists, best of luck to them there! Hard lines to Sheffield, but they've definitely still got a chance of going through too; best of luck to them in the play-offs!
The stats: Mr O'Flanagan was, once again, the best buzzer of the night with, for the second match in a row, EIGHT(!) starters, while Mr Price was best for Sheffield with three. On the bonuses, Sheffield managed 11 out of 19 (with one penalty) and Imperial 15 out of 30 (with three penalties).
Next week's match: Darwin vs Warwick in the second eliminator match
Mastermind’s first semi-final was
opened by Elis Matthews, who was answering on the TV series Fleabag; an early
mistake and a pass aside, he got them all right and scored 11. He was followed by
Lorna Frankel, who was answering on Michael Faraday; she made no mistakes, and
so took an early lead with 13. Next up was Teddy Fogel, who was answering on the
presidency of Ronald Reagan; he didn’t fare so well, and finished with 6, which
you’d probably say ruled him out of the running already. Finally, Peter Glanvill
was answering on British marine invertebrates; he started well, then lost momentum
a bit, finishing with 10, but with two passes which left him at a disadvantage
going into GK.
Teddy returned for that first, and
put up a decent score of 10 for a total of 16, a respectable total, but not one
that would trouble the others you fancied. Peter’s chances took an early knock
when he incurred a third pass, and a few more finished them off you suspected; he
scored 11 for a fine total of 21, but, again, you fancied at least one of Elis
or Lorna would beat that, especially with the passes as well.
Elis stumbled a bit at the start
of his round with a run of passes leaving his task a lot harder too; he bounced
back well and scored 10, thus equalling Peter’s score of 21 and taking the lead
due to fewer passes. Which meant Lorna needed at least 9 to win, though 8 would
be enough provided she didn’t pass too often; despite a slight stumble
mid-round, she ended up doing more than enough, scoring 10 for a total of 23,
which made her the first finalist of the series! Well done her, and thanks to
the others for taking part and getting this far.
And that's it for another week. Thanks as ever for reading, and apologies again for the extra day's wait for this week's blog; take it up with whoever's clever idea it was for the BBC to have the Friday night FA Cup game (see last week's blog for all the gory details). Back to business as usual next week (I hope), back on Monday night as usual with my usual write-up; so, see yous then I guess...
No comments:
Post a Comment