NO RED LIST DESTINATIONS FOR THE QUIZ
The Macmillan Quiz is international. This update sees sport on four continents, starting in Asia and ending on a chilly night in Texas. The 2022 Quiz is moving into its final draft stages but it’s not too late for you to suggest dazzling and imaginative new questions. Whatever, all at Quiz HQ are fervently hoping that you will participate. Whether you are the likely winner like Rob Pearce or Lanterne Rouge like my dear friend Ray Short, you can be certain of starting February equal first.
Keen students will note that the numbers in the third column have changed since the end of the Indian Premier League. The 2021 Tie Break was based on the total number of IPL sixes.672 was much less than in 2020 which fooled most of you but not MARIAN ANDERTON who came closest. Why this drop of a hundred? Was this the rediscovery of the judicious leave, the stylish forward defensive? In my dreams! The second half of the tournament was played in the UAE, often on low slow pitches; harder to get your bat under the ball if it’s coming at ankle height.
38)Off to Australia which like the four nations of the United Kingdom had different lock down rules for its seven states and territories, much much more cautious and swift to act than Buffoon Boris. The British Covid death toll is ONE HUNDRED times greater than Australia so clearly Oz were doing something right. Wonder what concessions the Ashes tourists were granted after weeks of whinging blackmailing high wire negotiations. September’s AFL Grand final was played in Perth with not a single VICTORIAN fan of winners Melbourne allowed into the state or the stadium. In a raucous atmosphere, home support should have worked in favour of Perth’s Western Bulldogs but no, Melbourne cruised to emphatic victory, their 13th but first since 1954.
39)Back home to Europe where the quizzing world is largely split between supporters of St Helens and Wigan. Wigan had a season of highs and lows but mainly lows which left space for a surprise outsider to stand between ST HELENS and their third successive title. A surprise but not to lone quizzer RUPERT LLOYD who had realized that the Catalan Dragons were making great strides to resurrect Rugby League in South West France. St Helens squeaked home by just two points, retaking the lead with just minutes left. How hard the favourites had to work to put the debutants in their place. Hard luck Rupert.
Staying in England, Neil Southwood was watching Halloween Night darts.
35)Whilst football’s Champions League continues to dominate the European game, the darts version was sadly dumped by the BBC earlier this year. Prime-time darts on the Beeb clearly wasn’t the success they had hoped for, but a handful of tournaments on ITV4 ensures that this sport isn’t completely lost to Murdoch. Quiz HQ therefore picked one of these as a replacement – the World Series of Darts Finals, held in Amsterdam this year. 24 players from Britain and across the world battled over Halloween weekend with a BRITISH player emerging triumphant. It was certainly not one of the names you would usually expect though!
In the early rounds it looked highly unlikely it would be a British victory, as much-fancied UK players fell at regular intervals. Past World Champion Scots Gary Anderson and Peter Wright were swiftly eliminated, rising English star Nathan Aspinall experienced a heavy defeat.Women’s darts flag-bearer Fallon Sherrock was no match for the Pole Krzysztof Ratajski. The strong Dutch contingent seemed to be relishing the home crowd atmosphere, whilst experienced Belgian duo Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van Den Bergh also rose to the occasion. They met in a brilliant quarter-final which was edged 10-8 by Van Den Bergh. The quarters also saw two Welshmen collide. Current World Champion Gerwyn Price was cruising 7-3 against Jonny Clayton but the fightback of the weekend saw ‘The Ferret’ reel off a trio of hundred-plus finishes to snatch victory 10-9. It was his second consecutive high-profile win over his countryman in the space of a month.
Clayton continued this stunning form in the semi-final over home favourite Michael van Gerwen, who was no match for the Welshman’s high scoring and excellent form on the doubles. Van Gerwen would have been many quizzers main hope for a non-British victory but MVG currently shows no sign of returning to the consistent levels he showcased 3-4 years ago. On his day he is still the best around but those days are becoming more and more infrequent.
The other semi saw Van Den Bergh again edge past Ratajski but by this point Clayton was flying and the Belgian had no answer in the final against yet another 100+ average. Clayton’s second consecutive 11-6 win on the final evening saw him clinch his fourth TV title of 2021. It has been a year that has already seen him soar in the rankings in less than nine months, whilst keeping his day-job going as a plasterer in South Wales. Scaling further heights though will surely only be a matter of time and he is certainly the man in-form ahead of the World Championships in late December.
Our American correspondent,Neil Dewhurst, was present IN PERSON for the sixth and, sadly, final game of the 2021 World series of Baseball, known as the Fall Classic.
40)After a full 162 game regular season, the Atlanta Braves from the National League & the Houston Astros from the American League were the finalists. Neither team had topped their respective leagues in the regular season, in fact the Braves were still under 0.500 in August, but both battled hard through their respective post-season brackets to take their place in the 2021 World Series. Ultimately the trophy ended up heading to Atlanta, EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI, as they won out 4-2 across six enthralling games.
With home advantage to the Astros courtesy of a better regular season record, the series kicked off in Houston. The Braves’ early hitting performance in Game 1 wiped out that advantage. The Braves lead-off hitter, Soler batting as Designated Hitter, cracked a home run of the 3rd pitch of the evening; the first lead-off homer in World Series history. The Braves then followed that with 4 more runs across the remainder of the first 3 innings to set up a 6-2 victory. Notably the strength of the Braves pitchers shone through, especially their starter.The returning Morton was hit hit by a 100mph+ comebacker(OUCH says ever cricket bowler).Morton carried on for 16 more pitches before being diagnosed with a broken leg!!
Game 2, again in Houston, was the direct opposite. The Astros got off to a flier scoring 5 runs in the first 2 innings, supported by a strong pitching performance from Urquidy who gave up 2 runs in 5 innings.The Astros tied the series with a 7-2 win.
For Games 3-5 the series switched the Atlanta where the Braves had the opportunity to win out on home soil. Game 3 was a low scoring affair, in cold & wet conditions; the Braves pitchers were on for combined no-hitter through 7 innings until it was broken in the 8th inning.D’Arnaud then hit a home run for the Braves in the bottom of the 8th to seal a 2-0 win & take the series lead.
In Game 4 the Astros’ Altuve hit his 23rd post season home run to move to into 2nd on the all-time list on his own. However back-to-back Braves home runs in the bottom of the 7th inning got them over the line 3-2 & within one win of sealing the Fall Classic.
Game 5, with the series on the line, got of to a fast start for the Braves with Duvall hitting the first grand slam home run in the World Series since 1960. However that was about as good as it got for them as the Astros offence chased them down & were ahead by the end of the 5th inning. Winning the game 9-5 ensured the series returned to Texas.
Game 6, with yours truly in attendance up in the “cheap” seats (nothing cheap about the World Series ticket prices!!), was the Astros’ chance to take it a deciding game the next night.The Braves had other ideas. The Astros weren’t able to capitalize on the rare times they had runners on base while the Braves scored at regular intervals to quieten the home crowd; first the series MVP, Soler smashed a homer out of Minute Maid Park (a rare occurrence given the roof is usually closed) to put 3 runs on the board in the 3rd inning. Swanson added 2 more with another home run in the 5th inning & finally Freeman added another 2 with a home run in the 7th inning. A 7-0 win gave the Braves the series win, their first Fall Classic win since 1995 & probably most importantly, family bragging rights to the Braves’ Manager Brian Snitker over his son Troy who is one of the Astros’ hitting coaches. If I was Troy, I’d probably skip the family Thanksgiving get together this year & have a turkey dinner for one at home!!
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