A mixed bag: WQC 2013 and me
June 3, 2013 in Quizzes
Last Saturday saw a selection of top quizzers from Ireland, the UK and even Germany converge on the Addison Lodge, Glasnevin, for the Irish heat of the 2013 World Quizzing Championships. For yours truly it was a day of highs and lows.
Starting with the lows, I put in a very poor performance in the day’s main event. At half-time, I wasn’t feeling too bad. My scores in the morning’s four categories were: 9, 21, 14 and 17. Indeed, I was quite proud of that 21 (in History) as it’s only the second time I’ve gotten over 20 in the three years I’ve been taking part in the WQC! The 9 was a bit of a ‘mare but we do get to discard one score at the end of the day so I was hopeful that I’d be saying “bye bye” to the Culture round.
It wasn’t to be, I’m afraid. After lunch I scored 11, 9, 8, 11. Yeah an 8. In Sport/Games! Terrible, just terrible. I dunno what happened. It may have been something to do with the frankly massive lunch I ate but my brain just wasn’t sparking. For example, one of the questions asked about the Jamaican sprinter who finished second in both the 100m and 200m at the 2012 Olympic Games. I knew who that was. I knew what he looked like. I couldn’t produce his name. That’s just not normal for me.
So, obviously that first round 9 did have to count – and it had another for company. In the end, I scored 92 points, a significant drop from the 114 I got last year.
I can’t claim the quiz was that much harder either. This time last year, I was second at the Irish heat, six points behind Lorcan Duff. This year, Lorcan improved his score by 11 points, finishing on a fantastic 131. This saw him finish as the highest-ranked Irish competitor and second overall. Our winner on the day though was Mark Grant, an Australian representing Wales, who finished on a frankly astonishing 156! Yes, he is that good! As of this morning, that score sees Mark ranked joint-sixth in the World overall which is a terrific achievement also.
At the very top, Irishman Pat Gibson (quizzing for England) scored 172 and looks set to regain the title he last held in 2011. Way to go Pat!
