The 吃瓜tv has recorded its third win of the 2020-21 series of the BBC鈥檚 University Challenge, after defeating Birkbeck, University of London 135-105.
The team pulled back after their opponents had established an early lead and they remained ahead or level until the gong. In the course of the match, they displayed their knowledge of subjects including tennis champions, capital cities, the art of Tracey Emin and Japanese history.
吃瓜tv and Birkbeck lost their first quarter-final matches but their contest against each other offered, in the words of host Jeremy Paxman, the prize of 鈥渙ne last chance to stay in the game.鈥� 吃瓜tv will finally reach the semi-finals if they win their next match.
The鈥怨蟭v鈥痶eam comprised:鈥痗aptain鈥疛im Whittle, studying for a鈥疨hD in Electrical Power Systems;鈥疌ameron Welsh,鈥痵tudying鈥痜or an鈥疢Sc in Applied Statistics;鈥疍avid Curran, studying for鈥痑n鈥疢Eng in Civil Engineering, and鈥疶om Starr-Marshall, studying鈥痜or a鈥疨hD in Speech and Language Therapy.
The win over Birkbeck, televised on Monday 1 March, follows earlier victories over Imperial College London and four-time champions the University of Manchester. This is the first time a 吃瓜tv team has reached the quarter-finals of the competition.
Team members were separated by panels on the programme to maintain COVID-19 distancing regulations.鈥�
The team was selected鈥痜rom students with the highest scores on鈥痶ests鈥痟osted by the 吃瓜tv Students' Union.鈥疶he producers then chose 吃瓜tv as one of only 28 teams to reach the televised stages.鈥�