The 50TH season of TVJ’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz is quickly coming to an end, but the competition is heating up as only the strong and the resilient have made it this far in the competition.
The week of quiz opened with a third-round matchup between Ardenne High School and Westwood High School. Ardenne won the toss and decided to go first. The Opening Challenge saw a slow start for Westwood, but they caught up to their opponents when they answered Ardenne’s question, ending the round five-all. Ardenne dominated the Speed Challenge, leaving Westwood six points behind them, and went into the Buzzer Challenge with 27 points. It was still anybody’s game, but Ardenne made every effort to secure the win. They were quicker on the buzzer and were sure of the answers. Westwood, on the other hand, attempted four questions and got one correct. They ended the match on 17 points. Ardenne High School moves on to the quarter-finals with 43 points.
Glenmuir High School and Munro College were up next. Glenmuir won the coin toss and decided to go first. The Opening Challenge set the precedence of how the match would pan out, as Munro led by one point at the end of the first round. Munro College used the Speed Challenge to widen the gap as they scored 26 points, but lost one after queries because the wrong answer came first. Glenmuir High School was on 20 points going into the Buzzer Challenge. Munro created an even wider gap by the end of the final round and won the match with 41 points. Glenmuir guessed the answers in the buzzer section and were not as aggressive for the win as their opponents. They ended the match with 24 points.
The first match in the quarter-finals was played between Central High School and Old Harbour High School. Central High won the toss but sent Old Harbour to face the questions first. After the first round, Central High was leading by one point, but this changed in the Speed Challenge. Old Harbour High School climbed to 25 points, leaving Central High School three points behind. Old Harbour High School held their composure during the Buzzer Challenge and was sure before attempting to answer. They move on to the semi-finals with 37 points, and Central High will have another chance at the championship next season, as they remained on 22 points at the end of the match.
The second quarter-final match was a nail-biting face-off between St Jago High School and Campion College. Campion won the toss but asked St Jago to go first. St Jago was out of the blocks and led by two points after the Opening Challenge by scoring nine to Campion’s seven points. The match became even more interesting during the Speed Challenge, where St Jago scored an additional 28 points, to make it 37 by the end of the round. This was a 10-point lead on Campion going into the Buzzer Challenge. The final section was a ding-dong battle, which almost sent the match into sudden death. However, on the last ding of the bell, Campion answered a question but got it incorrect, losing two points and ending the match on 43 points to St Jago’s 45 points. After queries, St Jago High School received an additional four points for a question that was initially deemed incorrect but was later accepted by the judges. St Jago High School moves on to the semi-finals.
The fifth match for the week, and the first double- header was between 11-time Schools’ Challenge Quiz winner Kingston College (KC) and five-time champions Calabar High School. KC won the toss but sent Calabar to answer first. Calabar was in the lead but KC soon took it over, ending the first round five to four. This changed after queries, as Calabar was penalised for a response given to a Spanish question. KC held on to the lead throughout the Speed Challenge and widened the gap by six points. The round ended with KC on 23 points and Calabar on 17. Calabar gained a point for a music question, but soon lost it due to mispronunciation in the response given for a biology question. It was much of the same during the Buzzer Challenge, where both team played smart, but KC held on to the lead and the match ended 37 points to 31. After queries, both teams were penalised and lost four points. Therefore, the third quarter-final match ended with Kingston College on 33 points and Calabar High School on 27 points.
Munro College and Ardenne High School faced off for the fourth quarterfinal match and the second double-header for the week. Munro took an early lead and ended the Opening Challenge four points ahead of Ardenne High School. They went into the Speed Challenge with eight points and further showed how serious they were about winning the match by dominating the section 29 to Ardenne’s 18 points. Munro was cautious during the Buzzer Challenge; they watched the time and their points, and only buzzed when they were certain of the answer. Ardenne were also smart with how they played, but came up nine points behind Munro. Ardenne gained six points after queries, however; four points for a math question which was read incorrectly but the correct answer was given, and an additional two points for a question which they were allowed to answer and had gotten incorrect. After checks were done, the judges realised that Ardenne had buzzed in after the final bell and were not supposed to get the chance to answer. The match ended with Munro College on 31 points and Ardenne High School on 28 points.
