Add-on quiz on October 2

There's been sufficient interest in the add-on quiz I had said I would conduct, so we're on for 4pm on Sunday October 2 at ICG. This will be a casual, non-leaderboard event.

The October monthly by Nitish Wagle will take place immediately on this being completed, hopefully by 5pm.

Annie

Mastermind it!

A report by Annie Sen Gupta on the second set of first-round contests of SEQC's Mastermind Junior competition, held at ICG, Dona Paula, on September 18.

Not having been in town on the date, I couldn't be there for the first set of Round 1 match-ups in the SEQC Mastermind Junior competition. Watching the second set, which were held on September 18, I really regretted having missed the first day.

The competition was fierce, and the performance of the young SEQCites superlative. It felt like Mastermind at its best -- in most cases, assured quizzers easily navigating the specialised and general knowledge question sets. With Rajiv as QM, the sombre interrogation that Mastermind is supposed to be had a friendly touch to it, appropriate to the age of the participants.

The first contest was perhaps a little one-sided, with Kunal Naik powering his way to an assured victory over close friend Soham Gaunekar and the indefatigable Nitish Fatarpekar. Kunal had chosen a potentially too-vast subject, 'The Simpsons', but his range of knowledge on the subject saw him establish a decent lead in the Specialised Subject round, which he consolidated with his General Knowledge.

The second contest was the cliffhanger. It began with some drama, with Samrah Kazi, who wasn't originally slated to be one of the contestants, bravely stepping up to take the place of Akash Kulkarni, who was a no-show. Sadly, fortune didn't favour the brave, as Akash's specialised topic of 'The Indian Premier League' had her stumped. The big surprise came in the performances of the other three in the group. Shashwat Salgaonkar, certainly one of the favourites for the crown of Junior Mastermind, was first bested by Shubham Tiwari, and then by Tarun Mascarenhas. A huge upset seemed to be on the cards.

Going into the GK round with a 10-point disadvantage, Shashwat seemed to be out of it when his total after his GK set put him barely 3 points above Tarun's score from the specialised set. Shubham, on next, did cross Shashwat's score, but set Tarun a target of just 5 points. With the contest seemingly in the bag, though, came anohter twist. Tarun only managed 4 points in his GK set, and Shubham went through from this match.

In the final group, too, Maithili Majithia scored 9 in her specialised set to finish ahead of the more fancied Akshay Rege (8) and Agastya Keni (6). Agastya had perhaps bitten off more than he could chew when he chose 'The National Basketball Association from 2000-2011' as his specialised subject, but it was the GK round that was his real bete noire. Maithili failed to capitalise on her lead, and did poorly in her GK set. Akshay roared back and this contest reverted to form.

Up ahead are the semis on November 13, with Shubham, Kunal and Akshay joining Jatan, Julian and Anand, who had earlier qualified from the previous Sunday's Round One contests. The competition can only get more tense, and I'm looking forward to being at this event. I suggest you mark it on your calendars as well.

From Boys to Men

A report by Tallulah D'Silva on the SEQC Junior Mastermind First Round held in Margao on the 11th September.

Junior Mastermind debuted at Margao with a surprisingly large turnout, the largest since its inception less than a year ago. Although the number of participants from Margao were a handful for this version of the quiz, the quizmaster’s decision to have its debut in this southern town seemed to have worked well with some dropping by to see what the quss ( fuss over a quiz!) was all about. Prior to the quiz, Rajiv D’Silva briefed the contestants on stage procedures and the other nuances of the quiz, reiterating the fact that most of these kids weren’t around when the Mastermind series were televised across the country! The first group had Julian, the local quiz wiz kid and the only experienced junior to have participated in an earlier version of SEQC Mastermind held more than a year ago, beginning the proceedings so as to help others that followed get acquainted with the structure, pace and routine of the first specialized subject round. Having chosen the Asterix Comics, Julian did extremely well with just 1 pass and 19 right answers. He scored highest in the GK round too topping in his group with 31 points. Anand P S topped in the next group with Tamanna Arora close behind by only a point having scored poorly in the general knowledge round. The last group saw Atharv Joshi who chose a toughie (Einstein’s Annus Mirabilis) and one of the favourites losing to Jatan Rodrigues by 4 points although having an equal score of 11 in the general knowledge round. The kids conducted themselves extremely well and audience proved very supportive in turn. Looking forward to the next clash of the Lilliputians!

Animal Instincts quiz results

QM: Aniruddha Sen Gupta

1st: St Britto's High School, Mapusa (Aaron Carvalho, Kendrick Fernandes, Onkar M. Nagvekar) - 128 points

2nd: G.S. Amonkar Vidya Mandir, Mapusa (Akshata Tar, Suraj Parmekar, Rajendra Deshprabhu) - 101 points

3rd: Holy Family School, Porvorim (Ashish Narvekar, Gilbert Soyus, Saheel Maulingkar) - 76 points

4th: St Mary's High School, Mapusa (Aliana Rodrigues, Rachita Alvi, Reissa Ribeiro) - 52 points

SEQCm September monthly results

QM: Kiril Vaz

1st: Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Asif Ali, Harsh Hegde - 160 points

2nd: Ajachi Chakrabarti, Paul Gatward, Sahil Ramchandani, Sanjay D. Parab - 110 points

3rd: [Abhijeet Virgincar, Leander Paes, V.R. Muralidharan, Zibane Paes] & [Abdul Razzaq, Akshay Rege, Ameya Mardolkar, Anjali Sen Gupta] - 70 points