The BCQC October Open was set by the suave duo of quizmasters Akshay Parale and Naman Jain with questions on “Mumbai, Pune and everything in between.” The venue for the quiz was the Kirloskar Auditorium at the Bhau Institute located in the campus of the College of Engineering, Pune, just adjacent to the BC steps. The venue, secured thanks to the efforts of Srinivas from COEP, was well-equipped with all the necessities that a quiz club wants and more; and will hopefully see more quizzing in the recent future.
The quiz started at 11.45 am with twelve teams of two
attempting a 25-question preliminary set with a total of 29 points for grabs.
Eight out of twelve teams present consisted of undergraduate college students.
The preliminary round was well set, with questions on temples, personalities,
buildings, art, culture and even rare minerals (yes, you read that right). The
difficulty level was fairly balanced, with most questions being workable. The
prelims ended with a top score of 21 out of 29.
The prelims were followed by lunch (thoughtfully coordinated
by the quizmasters). Members of teams staying back were drafted into the top
seven teams for the finals. The finals consisted of two written and two
infinite rebound rounds. The infinite rebound rounds had 16 questions each and
were notable for both their range and depth. There were hardly any peters in
the quiz, and the questions reflected the enormous amount of research that had
gone into setting the quiz – particularly notable in questions from the Peshwai
and colonial eras of Pune, including details of a particular kind of surgery
performed in the 1790s and the ingredients of an aloe vera jam from the 1870s.
The quiz proceeded rather smoothly, apart from few technical A/V glitches.
Akshay and Naman had a good control over the proceedings of the quiz and
ensured that it finished within the stipulated time, to allow for the
ceremonial post-quiz trip to the local watering hole. It was a tight battle
between the top two teams, which at one point in the quiz were separated only
by half a point. The battle for third place was also hotly contested by
three teams, all within five points of each other.
Some of the questions were a bit wordy and there was scope
for some text-trimming, but there wasn’t much else in the quiz to find fault
with.
All in all, it was a fantastic quiz and was unanimously
enjoyed by the participants. I’m sure the Boat Club Quiz Club is looking
forward to more quizzes by Akshay and Naman.
Results:
1.
First place: Dr Anmol Dhawan and Pranav Pawar
2.
Second place: Nikhil Motlag, Shivam Sharma and
Pitambar Pandey (draft)
3.
Third place: Maj Saikat Sarkar, Surg Lt Cdr
Kshitij Jyoti and Yash Pathak (draft)
Report by: Dr. Anmol Dhawan
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