News

Bucknor defeats Hall 51 - 43 in Master's match

By ANDREA DOWNER, Staff Reporter

Nicholas Earle, Andrew Alves, Oral Robertson and Andrew Townsend team members of the Buckner team which won this year's annual masters' match in the Schools' Challenge Quiz competition. - Ian Allen

THE ANNUAL SCHOOLS' Challenge Quiz Masters' match is the penultimate event in the yearly competition. As is the custom, two teams, Bucknor, comprising the coaches of teams from Corporate Area schools and Hall, comprising coaches of schools from the rural area, matched their intellectual skills against each other. Bucknor emerged the winner with 51 points to Hall's 43.

The teams are named for two icons in the competition's history, Dennis Hall, the longest serving quiz master and Donat Buckner, the competition's longest serving producer.

The Bucknor team was comprised of Andrew Townsend, coach of Immaculate Conception High School, who was also captain; Oral Robertson, who coached St. George's College, Andrew Alves of Calabar; and Nicholas Earles, who coaches Wolmer's Boys.

Their opponents, Hall was comprised of Francis Blythe, who coached Mannings High School, Andre Gordon of Black River, Peter Samaroo of St. Mary High and Howard Thompson, coach of Manchester High and the team's captain.

The match-up against the men who had honed the intellectual skills of the youngsters who had participated in the competition was an exciting one. At the end of Section One both teams were tied on 11 points. But although the match started out slowly, the pace picked up considerably in the second section.

Blunders

During this section, Bucknor were unable to correctly name Kingsley Thomas, the Chairman of the National Housing Trust. Hall was not exempted from blunders either, they incorrectly stated that a plant with both male and female characteristics is called a hermaphrodite.

Moderator, Marlene Stephenson supplied the correct answer. The word hermaphrodite refers to a human being with both male and female organs and not a plant.

Bucknor pulled ahead at the end of this section, ending with 39 points to Hall's 35.

The final section ensued with Hall trying to beat Bucknor to the buzzer in an attempt to snatch victory. Bucknor held on to their lead, however, and ended the match with 51 points, eight points clear of Hall.

This section was not without its comedic moments, as Hall failed to identify Morin Seymour, head of the Kingston Restoration Company.

When his face appeared on the monitor, the gentlemen chorused, "Ed Bartlett."

Robertson, of the Buckner team told THE STAR after the match that it was good to see that the coaches made some of the simple mistakes that they often berate their students for making.

Michael Gordon, the coach of the Hall team, said he felt his team did 'pretty good' but they could have done better but quite possibly, the occasion overwhelmed them.

Howard Thompson, Hall's captain, said that his team members were all from four different parishes, St. Mary, Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland and they did not get a chance to meet and practise before the match. "That is not an excuse for losing, our opponents played well but the distance could have been a factor," he concluded.

The curtain will come down on the competition next Thursday when finalists, Calabar and Manchester face off for the crown at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel at 8:30pm.