With 400 teams from 53 schools across the country in the contest, making the cut after all was not a sure bet. The first round, comprising a written test, saw just 12 teams being short-listed.
In the next three rounds, half of them were eliminated. Three more rounds of grilling saw just three teams reaching the final. Scores of previous rounds are not carried over to the subsequent stages.
Apart from Kumarans, the Frank Anthony Public School (FAPS), Jogupalya; and the hosts, the Bishop Cotton Boys’ School were the other two teams.
With Quiz master Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramaniam conducting the proceedings, the contestants were virtually on pins and needles. But Athiti and Subha had done enough homework to prevail in this war of wits. “We have been preparing daily from the lower classes by reading the newspapers carefully. Also, we browsed Wikipedia frequently. It is like our Vedas,” the duo said.
Scoring 55 points in the final round, they answered virtually all questions. But complicated questions on business did tense them. “We are not good at business, so we did feel the smidgen answering questions on it,” they added.
Terming “Exquisite” the toughest competition they have taken part in so far, the duo said they passed with flying colours as their school supported them in balancing between studies and preparation for the quiz.
Amid a long round of applause and loud music, they received the trophy and a prize of Rs 30,000 from Bishop Cotton Boys’ School Principal John K Zachariah.
The host school, however, had a disappointing run with its team of Class 11 students Rudra Gopinath and Rahul C Choudary scoring just one point in the finals and finishing runners-up. It received Rs 20,000. Mollika and Arvind V of FAPS failed to score a single point in the finals and ended up walking away with Rs 10,000.
