The Gods Of Quizzing

THE GODS OF QUIZZING

9)The BBC are about to show a series called “The Gods of Snooker,”tales of the first few years at the Crucible when the final was watched by “Line of Duty” size audiences with an equal buzz at the office coffee break next morning(Remember what an office was like. Happy days.)Now, despite the 2021 final being between The Magician and The Jester, there were no ladies being sawn in half or risqué jokes told. What there was for the final was a capacity crowd in ecstasy. How quickly we got used to the cutaway shots to the cheering crowd from the action on the table. For our quiz question, both finalists were FORMER champions. There had been 8 former champions in the round of 32 and all survived their first challenge. One had to go in the round of 16 as two played each other but in this round Ronnie O was also an unexpected casualty. Still six of the quarter finalists were former champions. Last year’s beaten finalist, Kyren Wilson was the only prospective first time winner in the semis but Kyren showed how difficult it is to win your first title by losing the last nine frames. Once again ,the much anticipated rise of an Asian champion has been delayed with Mark Selby becoming the ninth English champion in the last ten years.

10)You need some information on the Quiz HQ backstory to understand why this question was ever set. The Quiz CEO has been an Ipswich supporter for fifty years but when the HQ was moved to Lincoln eight years ago, he quickly was caught up in Lincoln’s romantic rise from non-league also rans to League One promotion hopefuls, all under the guidance of the romantic Cowley brothers. Back in November 2020,Ipswich and Lincoln were neck and neck in the running for automatic promotion, the lead swapping back and forth. As soon as the question was set, Ipswich fell apart. At one stage, the Tractor Boys went 661 minutes without scoring, almost as long as Wagner’s Ring Cycle but without the laughs. Quite wisely, many quizzers decided in January that the points margin would be in double figures. Lincoln themselves had a disappointing run and lost their last chance of automatic promotion by conceding three goals in 25 minutes when holding a 3-0 lead. Lincoln held on and will be in the play-offs for a Championship place; Ipswich, buoyed by the support of Ed Sheeran, finished EIGHT points behind.

So that he could avoid the misery of watching his beloved Swindon foundering into relegation,Quiz HQ sent cub reporter Neil to follow the

11)Just like many of the men’s football honours this year, the Women’s Super League was dominated by two clubs in 2020-21, Chelsea and Manchester City, who engaged in a superb battle for the title right through to the last day of the season. Chelsea’s determination to reach their first Champions League final did not distract them from their quest to retain the domestic title they won through a Covid points-per-game algorithm last summer. They always had a narrow edge over City this time, keeping their nerve over the closing weeks to secure a TWO POINT margin of victory.

The early pace had been set by Manchester United in their second season in the Super League but their campaign hit the rails following a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea early in the New Year. Over the following two months they suffered four further losses, slipping down to fourth. Past winners Arsenal recorded stunning 9-1 and 6-1 victories in their first two games but couldn’t find such form when it really mattered against their fellow title challengers mid-season, so it was soon left for Chelsea and Man City to resume their battles of recent years. A squad containing several English Lionesses and a strong pool of overseas stars, the defending champions gained an early edge in October winning their home game against City 3-1, before holding on for a 2-2 draw in the crucial return match in April. This kept Chelsea in control going into the final weeks and they won their game in hand over Spurs to leap into first place in the final week.

There was no repeat of a surprise defeat in February to mid-table Brighton (their only loss of the domestic season) as they clinically secured their fifth title in the past seven years on the final day. Man City kept the pressure on, winning 1-0 away at West Ham despite missing two penalties, but Chelsea were never in real danger of falling short. They took the lead over Reading after just 68 seconds, doubled their lead just before half-time and then scored three further second-half goals to cruise to the victory they needed. Inevitably it was their deadly strike-force of Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr who were influential once again, scoring three of these five goals to bring their joint total for the season in all competitions to 52. Australian striker Kerr in particular was superb in the league, becoming only the second woman to score 20 goals in a WSL season.

Emma Hayes now leads her team to Gothenburg next weekend to meet Barcelona in the Champions League Final. It is only the second time an English team has reached the continental competition’s final, following Arsenal’s triumph back in 2007, a side which had Hayes as assistant boss. After years of French and German domination, it could start to mark a shift in the balance of power in European women’s football if Hayes can repeat her triumph over a decade on and it will take something special you feel to stop them dominating domestically again when fans hopefully return in the autumn.

Rob Pearce has been in and around the lead for a while but a Magnificent Seven who sorted out all three predictions have made rapid progress. These points difference questions can feel quite random. On the final afternoon, the gap between Ipswich and Lincoln could have been anything from 7 to 13.Random maybe but no problems for BRIAN DOBBS, EMMA ELLIS, ROS EXWORTH, IAN MANLEY, SADIE RAINS, IONA ROGERS, and GARETH ROSSITER.