Evening all. Welcome to the second round of the contest, usually considered the toughest, for 'tis the only round where defeat means instant elimination. My views on this are well documented, so I'll say no more. What I will say is it's time for the BBC to publish fixtures beforehand again, provided they don't spoil results; I was discussing this on Twitter the other day with fellow blogger Kelly, of the excellent 'Accidental Quizzer' blog. On to the show.
Sidney Sussex College Cambridge won their first match against Cambridge neighbours King's 195-60, in a match remembered more for their opponents' unusual attire than the match itself! They were the same four as before:
Nicholas Bennett, from London, studying Maths
Ellie Thompson, from Nottingham, studying Physics
Thomas Hitchcock, from Ashford in Kent, studying Natural Sciences
Dan Wilson, from Buckinghamshire, studying German and Russian
Imperial impressed hugely in the first round, beating our old friends Reading 285-105, showing great potential on both the buzzer and the bonuses, making them one of the firm second round favourites. They two were unchanged from before:
Ben Fernando, from Birmingham, studying Physics
Ashwin Braude, from North London, studying Physics
Captain: James Bezer, from Manchester, studying Physics
Onur Teymur, from London, studying Mathematical Statistics
Off we set again then, and Imperial showed they seriously meant business tonight by taking the first starter and all three bonuses on Apollo 11. Two more starters went to the London side, though Sidney Sussex had an unlucky near miss on the first, and half the bonuses that came with them went with them. Sidney Sussex finally broke into the match with the fourth starter, and a full bonus set on art showed they weren't to be totally written off. The first picture round, on US states and the decades they joined the union, went to Imperial, who took two of them, and thus led 80-25.
Just one bonus followed Imperial's next starter, and the one after that too, from an amusing set of bonuses on nettles in Shakespeare. (They really are running out of links for Shakespeare sets, aren't they?) A very impressive quick buzz from Mr Bezer gave Imperial a fourth successive starter, and two bonuses on medieval rulers followed. 'Twas at this point that Sidney Sussex heard the words no team wants to hear: "there's still plenty of time left"! Only one team (that we know of) has gone on to win after been told this. It did them no good either, as Mr Fernando took another starter for Imperial, and a full bonus set on Mr HL Mencken followed.
The music starter was dropped; the bonuses, on classical pieces on a maritime theme, went to Imperial. They didn't manage any of them, unluckily missing one by saying Gilbert instead of Sullivan, but it mattered not, for they led 165-25. Sidney Sussex finally took a second starter, and two bonuses on the ASEAN followed. Normal service then resumed courtesy of Mr Bezer, and a full set of bonuses followed, though Paxo was rather lenient to let them off with correcting themselves on a slight slip for one of them. Another starter and a full set of bonuses on sheep took Imperial through the 200 barrier, and that was pretty much it for the night.
The second picture round, on paintings depicting the temptations of St Anthony, went to Imperial, and their lead now stood at 225-45. Another very good buzz from Mr Bezer only added to it, and a full set of bonuses gave them a 200+ lead. Two more starters fell to the London side, and half the bonuses saw them equal their first round score; unless they now felt like sitting back somewhat and letting Sidney Sussex have a late run, they would certainly better it.
Sidney Sussex did manage another starter, and two bonuses on entomology; they had been shut out of the game pretty much throughout, but had done well with the bonuses when they did get in, which is the sign of a good team. Not as good as Imperial, though, who triumphantly broke 300 thanks to a starter and two bonuses. A slip-up pretty much summed up Sidney Sussex's night, though they did manage the final starter and the one bonus there was time for. At the gong, Imperial won 305-75.
A pretty one sided match throughout, to be honest. Unlucky Sidney Sussex, who, as I said on Twitter earlier, were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, though they did go pretty decently when they did get in, so good on them, and thank you for taking part. Very well done to Imperial though on an absolutely barnstorming performance, and you shall now be taken very seriously indeed in the QFs; best of luck for then!
Mr Bezer was, by far, the best buzzer of the night, with eight starters, while Mr Wilson was best for Sidney Sussex with three. On the bonuses, Sidney Sussex converted a very good 8 out of 10 (with one late penalty), while Imperial managed an impressive 29 out of 48.
Next week's match: no word on the draw yet, but Warwick vs Nuffield is my best guess; I also suspect we'll be seeing Glasgow and Southampton again in the two weeks after that.
Only Connect, on before UC from now on, carried on into the play-off stage, the final stage before the knockout QFs. I'll go into that in more detail later in the week. Also this week, I'll be looking over the fourth Fifteen-to-One 2.0 final, and also, the first of four posts celebrating Deal or No Deal's Tenth Anniversary. So, stay tuned for those.
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