The College Challenge Series: A Thrilling Showdown

This college challenge series has been quite the spectacle. It’s been a fascinating contest with teams battling hard at every turn. After 36 matches and 26 teams eliminated, we’ve reached a point where Warwick and the University of Christ, Cambridge, are the last two standing. They’ve faced each other before, during the second quarter-finals, where Christ came out on top with a score of 205-155.

So, could Christ continue their winning streak? Or would Warwick finally take home the trophy? One thing was certain, the trophy was set to be awarded to a captain named Oscar.

Now, let’s talk about attire. Amol Rajan certainly looked sharp in his tuxedo. The students overall appeared quite impressive—both in intellect and style—but Brendan Bethlehem from Christ really stood out with his unique knit number.

As the match began, Warwick quickly gained a lead, answering five out of six initial starter questions across various subjects like Benjamin Watson and Captain Oscar Sidle. They converted poetry bonuses effectively, bringing the score to 105-25 in their favor.

However, Christ wasn’t down for long; they found their rhythm. Biochemistry captain Oscar Despard scored big, sparking a comeback. Topics ranging from Mozart to mathematics helped Christ claw their way back to 140, with Warwick still leading at 105.

Bethlehem buzzed in on a question about Chinese poetry, although they missed out on the bonus. Warwick maintained their momentum, correctly answering a challenging question on Yoruba religion, primarily from West Africa.

As time ticked away, Warwick stayed calm, yet Christ started to close the gap, with Despard leading the charge. Just 30 seconds before the end, Anico Farman leveled the scores at 170-170. The final question—answered by Bethlehem—was crucial. The final score? 175-170, leading to a thrilling victory for the University of Christ in Cambridge. It seemed likely Rajan wouldn’t overlook their refusal to accept Alexandrina’s place of Alexandrina.

The trophy presentation by Sir Ian McKellen at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge was quite fitting, especially since he had made his stage debut there back in 1958. I was delighted to hear he enjoys questions about Shakespeare.

Some of the final round questions felt fairly basic—7th graders should know about carbon isotopes, right? Edward Hopper came up, which felt a bit like a textbook question. I hope I’m not angering Ian here, but Hecate seemed a tad easy too! What surprised me was that the bright minds present didn’t realize that diesel refers to both an engine type and a fuel.

The finale was nothing short of thrilling. Both teams performed excellently, and every member contributed to the excitement. It was heartbreaking to see Warwick lose by such a narrow margin, especially given the impressive performances from Oscar Sidle, Ananya Govindarajan, Thomas Hart, and Benjamin Watson. They should be exceedingly proud of their efforts. Just one more question could have changed everything, who knows?

But the last word goes to the University of Christ in Cambridge. Cheers to Oscar Despard, Anico Furman, Brendan Bethlehem, and Linas Lu. Huge congratulations on this historic win—their first-ever victory in the 63-year history of the program. We’ll overlook them knocking out Imperial in the quarter-finals!