Warwick team to contest University Challenge final

Warwick will appear in the hotly-anticipated final of this year’s University Challenge tonight, as they fight to become champions of the prestigious show for a third time.

The 28 UK universities which participated in this year’s series have now been whittled down to two, with Warwick set for a final showdown against Christ’s College, Cambridge.

The University’s 2024-25 team is captained by Maths student Oscar Siddle, alongside Ananya Govindarajan (Engineering), Thomas Hart (Maths), and Benjamin Watson (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics).

Reflecting on his relationship with the iconic BBC2 show, Siddle told The Boar: “University Challenge has been my favourite quiz show for years. Even as late as a couple of years ago, the prospect of just getting on the show seemed impossible. So getting through Warwick’s process and then making it through the show’s interviews felt like a huge achievement. 

Should the team emerge victorious, it will be the University’s third victory, after successes in Warwick’s only other final appearances in 2007 and 2021

“Then, once we were on, every game was a bonus, so getting to the final and securing a seventh opportunity to play the game that we all enjoy was a great feeling.”

Should the team emerge victorious, it will be the University’s third victory, after successes in Warwick’s only other final appearances in 2007 and 2021.

This year’s Warwick campaign got off to a strong start, with a 275–125 victory over the University of East Anglia (UEA) in round one.

Further success followed, with Siddle’s team seeing off Oriel College, Oxford, with a 215–110 scoreline in the second round, before thrashing Queen’s University Belfast 215–95 in Warwick’s first quarter-final.

Warwick Quiz Society, whose members provided opposition for the University Challenge team in practices, were enthusiastic about Warwick’s success so far.

Each member of the team is a wonderful person and watching them do their best in every single game has been an honour

Caitlin Libeaut, President, Warwick Quiz Society

The society’s president, Caitlin Libeaut, told The Boar: “As a society we have absolutely loved watching the team progress through the matches.

“Each member of the team is a wonderful person and watching them do their best in every single game has been an honour. We are so excited to watch the final and no matter the outcome we are so proud of how phenomenal the team has done!”

The second quarter-final, the team’s first encounter with the Christ’s College side they will return to face tonight, was far from plain sailing.

Warwick were 150 points behind at one stage in a match they would go on to lose 205–155, but were able to narrow the margin of victory through a late push and quick succession of buzzes.

“I thought you were about to pull off the most amazing comeback there,” an exasperated Amol Rajan said of Warwick after the gong.

“You were about 450 points behind at one point,” joked the host, who is presenting his second series of the show after Jeremy Paxman stepped down in 2023.

[Thomas Hart’s] series-long habit of sticking his elbow out before buzzing has also befuddled viewers, with one suggesting, “Hart gonna break that buzzer if he’s not careful”

Despite the loss, Siddle enjoyed the match, telling The Boar: “My personal highlight [of the series] was probably the final quarter of our quarter-final game against Christ’s, primarily because we finally got asked a painting picture starter but also because by that point we were so far behind that I’d almost accepted we’d lost, and since we had the safety net of another quarter final game we were free to buzz quickly, confer quickly, and we closed the gap down really well and almost completed a comeback.”

In the third quarter-final, the team beat University College London (UCL) and secured a semi-final contest against Darwin College, Cambridge, which they narrowly won 180–160.

Reacting to the dramatic win, Warwick’s Thomas Hart said, “I’m going to need to lie down in a darkened room for a while”, prompting Rajan to remind him of the coming final.

Hart’s series-long habit of sticking his elbow out before buzzing has also befuddled viewers, with one suggesting that “Hart gonna break that buzzer if he’s not careful”.

Warwick students will be hoping to see Hart and co buzz in where it counts, however, as they fight to vanquish the demons of their previous encounter with Christ’s.

As it’s the final and there’s no safety net, it should also be tenser than our previous matchup [against Christ’s College, Cambridge]. It’s all or nothing

Oscar Siddle, Warwick team captain 2024-25

On what viewers can expect from the rematch, Siddle said: “Our last game against Christ’s was characterised by long periods where only one team was getting buzzes. Christ’s went on something like a 120 point run and we had a 105 point run. This game, from memory, should be a bit more back and forth. 

“As it’s the final and there’s no safety net, it should also be tenser than our previous matchup. It’s all or nothing.”

The final will be aired live on BBC2 tonight at 8:30pm, with Warwick students able to follow the action on the piazza’s big screen to see if team Warwick can bring it home.