Saturday 8 June 2019

Mastermind 2019 Semi Final 6


The last semi final, then. Let’s have a look at the last 5 contenders hoping for a place in the final.

Alan Keys
Olympic Track and Field 1896 - 1948
13
0
13
0
26
0
Helen O’Connell
The History of Prague
12
2
18
2
30
2
Sean Climo
Life and work of Egon Schiele
14
0
13
1
27
1
Lena Gazey
Emma, Lady Hamilton
12
0
12
2
24
2
Derek Caudwell
John Hawkwood
12
0
16
2
28
2

 You can’t dismiss anyone’s chances based on just one round, but you’d be forgiven for looking at the list and picking out Derek Caudwell and especially Helen O’Connell. Now as I said, form in the heats is sometimes no indication of semi final performance – as we’ve seen some contenders in previous semis scored very well in their heats, but nothing like as well in their semis. Nonetheless, Helen’s 18 in GK was exceptional.  

Alan Keys kicked us off then, as the last of the repechage runners up. I’d love to know how it is that not all of the highest scoring runners up appeared in the semis – it may genuinely be that some who scored 28 were unable. Can’t help wondering though. Anyway, Alan was answering on Charles II which made this my specialist round of the night. I likes my kings and queens rounds, and took 7 on this. Alan didn’t have a perfect round, but anything in double figures in a semi final specialist round will always put you in contention, and Alan scored a good 10. 
So, my pre-race favourite, Helen O’Connell, came next. Helen was answering on the Plant Hunters. – Not very sporting – I quipped – I mean, they’re not exactly a moving target- boom boom. Helen whacked in an excellent 11 – incidentally only 1 point down on her specialist round in the heat, where she had an extra 30 seconds. If she could find a GK round which approached her round in the heats, she’d be very hard to beat now.  

Sean Climo was answering on Delta Blues, about which I proved that I know very little. In all honesty I though his round was a little better than the 8 which he scored – it didn’t look that much worse than either of the preceding rounds. However being 3 points behind he was always going to need the GK round of his life to have a hope of progressing.  

Lillie Langtry I did know a little bit more about – although I only achieved three points on Lena Gazey’s round on the Jersey Lily. Lena again put in a terrific round to score 11, which again was only 1 point down on her specialist score in the heat, on Lady Hamilton. In real terms, that’s an improvement.  

Finally my other tip for the top in this contest, Derek Caudwell. Last time out Derek answered on John Hawkwood. Last night his subject was Robert Fitzroy, captain of HMS Beagle when Charles Darwin made his voyage, and pioneer of the Met Office. Derek looked pretty calm and unflustered as he too powered his way to a score of 11. To get to a semi you’ve got to have already prepared one specialist subject well enough. I do like to see all 5 contenders in a semi having been able to prepare a second subject well too.  

Sean returned to the chair. Last time out he scored 13 on GK, this time out 11. Off a shorter round, that’s an improvement, and it took his s core to 19. It was a good round, but it wasn’t the spectacular round he was going to need to give himself a realistic chance. Following him to the chair, Alan Keys actually started his round rather well. However he became becalmed mid round, and struggled to add much to his s core in the last 45 seconds or so. He levelled out at 17. 

So we came to the three contenders who’d shared the lead with 11 at the half time interval. First of them to go was Helen. Now, in real terms, I would say that her 14 in a 2 minute round was comparable to her 18 in a 2 and a half minute round in the heat. It was a terrific display of GK quizzing, and well and truly laid down the gauntlet to the two contenders who followed.  

Lena Gazey had scored 12 on GK in her first round heat. Even if she accrued this score from 30 seconds less time it wouldn’t be enough. Under the circumstances the 10 that she added to her score was an improvement on the heat, but left her some way behind in second. Only Derek Caudwell remained. If he could repeat the same total he’d scored in the heat, 16, then that would be enough. In fact 15 would have done it. That was a tall order, mind you, and it wasn’t long into the second minute that it became clear Derek was going to fall short. In the end he too scored 10 to also finish with 21.  

Very well done Helen. A great performance, and the very best of luck to you in the semi finals.  

 The Details

Alan Keys
The Life of Charles II
10
0
7
0
17
0
Helen O’Connell
The Plant Hunters
11
0
14
0
25
0
Sean Climo
Delta Blues
8
0
11
4
19
4
Lena Gazey
Lillie Langtry
11
1
10
3
21
4
Derek Caudwell
Robert Fitzroy
11
0
10
3
21
3

No comments: