Christ’s College has reached the final of the TV quiz show University Challenge for the first time since 1970 when it was runner up to Churchill College, Cambridge.
The team, captained by Oscar Despard (Natural Sciences), includes Linus Luu (Mathematics), Brendan Bethlehem (Linguistics and Egyptian) and classicist Anniko Firman who is now studying for an MPhil at Jesus College.
Twenty-eight universities from across the UK took part this year in a thrilling series in which Christ’s, accompanied by their mascot ‘the serious goose’, has won five rounds to make the final two.
The team have been commended by presenter Amol Rajan for ‘a thrilling bit of quizzing’ in the first quarter final, but ‘falling asleep’ in the second through to their most recent ‘stellar performance’ when Brendan answered an amazing run of starter questions.
Captain, Oscar said:
“I thought we were a fairly strong team going in, but I certainly wasn't expecting to reach the final. I definitely feel we gained in confidence as the series went on, particularly after beating Imperial in our first quarter-final.”
They have learned how to deal with nerves. Oscar said he felt calm and well-prepared going into the final.
Brendan said:
“You only have about three hours between getting into the final and Amol saying, ‘here's your first starter for ten’, and I don't remember any of it except the fact that I forgot to pack a shirt to wear for it and had to borrow one from the BBC!”
As we all look forward to the Grand Final on Monday 12 May, excitement is growing. Oscar, who is from Dublin said,
“People have been very interested in it at home in Ireland too; from what I hear, my mother gets asked about it more than I do!”
Brendan said:
“I've wanted to be on University Challenge longer than I've wanted to do anything else in my life, having grown up watching it since I was a small child. I didn't think we'd make it this far, but it means the world to me to be in the final.”
You can catch up on their progress to the final on the iplayer:
Round 1: Exeter College, Oxford vs Christ’s, 110/205
Round 2: Christ’s vs St Edmund Hall, Oxford, 210/100
Quarter Final 1: Imperial vs Christ’s, 160/180
Quarter Final 2: Christ’s vs Warwick, 205/155
Semi Final: Christ’s vs Bristol, 220/50
The Grand Final takes place on Monday 12 May, 20:30 on BBC2 against Warwick.