Yesterday’s victory was no easy feat, as Bristol squared up to University Challenge giants, Darwin, who boasted the second highest cumulative total of points in the first two rounds as well as the formidable Jason Golfinos; widely considered as the greatest individual quizzer of the tournament to date.
The game made for exhilarating watching as Darwin shot to an early and commanding lead, with Bristol steadily catching up and then in the last minute, racking up a lead of five points.
The match ended in a draw and went to sudden-death overtime, in which the first team to get a question right wins. If a player buzzes in early and gets a question wrong, their team loses five points and the other team wins automatically.
The game ended after not one, but five tie-break questions until Bristol scooped victory, as Pushan Basu buzzed the final tie-break question with the correct answer, winning with 115 points to 105.
The quiz team now looks forward to taking on St Edmund’s Hall Oxford in what is set to be another exhilarating quarter-final match.
The university has much to celebrate, having also secured a place in the next series, making this their sixth consecutive run and giving them the longest consecutive streak among University Challenge teams.
Continuing in record-breaking style, Bristol has played more matches than any other university team to date and Bristol is one of only four teams ever to appear in three consecutive quarter-final rounds.
The Bristol team:
- Anne Le Maistre, captain (History)
- Pushan Basu (English)
- George Sumner (Physics)
- Owen Iredale (Biology)
- Laura Denton, reserve (Geology and Botany)
University Challenge is the longest-running academic quiz show in the UK. It was first aired in 1962.