This series ofUniversity Challengehas been another corker, and the final a gripping showdown between two brilliantly clever teams fighting tooth and nail for every point. After 36 matches and 26 teams knocked out, Warwick and Christ’s College, Cambridge, are left standing. But these two have met before, coming face to face in their second quarter-finals. Then, Christ’s College emerged victorious (205 – 155).
Could Christ’s win again? Or would Warwick claim their third University Challenge victory? All we knew for sure was that the trophy would be presented to a captain called Oscar.
First, a word for the fashion. Amol Rajan’s dapper tuxedo: very nice. The students all looked very smart (in both senses), but for me, Christ’s Brendan Bethlehem wins best dressed for his knitted number.
To the match then, and Warwick took an early and convincing lead, winning five of the first six starter questions, with buzzes from Benjamin Watson, Thomas Hart and captain Oscar Siddle. Warwick had full conversion of bonuses on poetry, British-Ghanian artist John Akomfrah and Laplace’s equation, taking the score to 105-25.
Happily, for Christ’s, a biochemistry starter was won by their biochemist captain, Oscar Despard, marking the start of their comeback. Two buzzes from Bethlehem on Mozart and singing styles and a maths buzz from their mathematician, Linus Luu and Christ’s had soon made triple digits, too, making the score 140 Warwick – 105 Christ’s.
Bethlehem got a cracking buzz on a Chinese poem, but the team were unable to get any bonuses from it. Warwick’s final touch of the proverbial ball was a buzz from Watson and an impressive conversion of points on the Yoruba religion found mostly in west Africa.
Warwick never lost their leisurely pace and relaxed reasoning through answers, even while time was whittling down and the scores were getting closer. Christ’s was well skippered by Despard, who kept the team moving quickly through the last questions of the series to good effect, closing the gap in the final seconds of the game.
The final buzz came 30 seconds before the gong from Christ’s Anniko Firman, (the name of Clytemnestra’s husband and the brother of Menelaus – Agamemnon) and levelled the scores: 170-170. The winning answer came from Bethlehem seconds later (the name of George II eldest son – Frederick). Final score: 175-170. Victory for Christ’s College, Cambridge. They’ll probably let Rajan off for not accepting Alexandrine instead of Alexandrina, all things considered.
On to the ADC theatre in Cambridge, then, for the trophy presentation by the great Ian McKellen. The ADC theatre was a fitting venue to host him, given that he made his stage debut there in 1958. Good to hear that he liked the Shakespeare question: me too.
Some of the questions felt very sporting for the final, though any year-seven student should be able to tell you the most common isotope of carbon. The Edward Hopper was the most textbook of Hoppers. And I hope I don’t upset Sir Ian in saying this, but Hecate was also a bit of an easy one for the final! It was baffling, too, that none of this brainy bunch knew diesel was both an engine type and a fuel.
Thrilling to the end, it was an absolute nailbiter of a finale. Both teams were firing on all cylinders with every member contributing. We all feel for the Warwick team losing by that most narrow of margins at literally the last minute. Oscar Siddle, Ananya Govindarajan, Thomas Hart and Benjamin Watson played a great match and should be tremendously proud of their success. Who knows how the series would have ended had we had just one more question.
But the final word must go to Christ’s College, Cambridge: Oscar Despard, Anniko Firman, Brendan Bethlehem and Linus Luu. Huge congratulations on your historic triumph – the first University Challenge win for Christ’s College in the programme’s 63-year history. I’ll even forgive you for knocking out Imperial in the quarter-finals.