Smartacus Seniors 2022: Identifying Offline Quizzing

Thrilled to return to the stage after a gap of two years, Dr. Jayakumar was smiling. “After a two-year drought in offline quizzing, Smartacus Seniors Open Quiz 2022 was the best drink of water for all who attended the event. The palpable excitement of the audience, the tension crack of the finalists on the stage and the impressive stage The set showed how an online quiz can never replace the real thing. Just watch the YouTube live stream of the event and see for yourself!” His voice, he says, is full of enthusiasm.

Eight teams comprising some of the most renowned quizzers from across the country made it to the finale. The team ‘Remembrance of Things Fast’ with Kiran Vijaykumar, Pritam Upadhyay and Manu Sudhakar scored 37 out of 40 and entered the finale as the first finalists. The thrilling finale included a combination of writing, bounce and pass, and buzzer-based questions. Dr. Jayakumar created magic on the stage as the audience and the finalists waited with bated breath. His multi-layered questions that included a mix of logic, reasoning and memorization ensured a nail-biting ending. Dr. Jayakumar, who is known for asking questions related to Indian independence, added an interesting twist on the occasion with a brain-tickling take on Pakistan’s independence, highlighting the importance of August 14.

While the finalists reveled in the joy of competitive, offline quizzing, the audience did not lag behind either. Written questions from the finalists were also presented to the audience, who were rewarded with books from Hachette India. The ‘A Font by Any Other Name’ round enthralled the audience as they raced to get the logo right. Till the last question, Team Traveling from Pillsbury, Mumbai, comprising Rajeev Rai, Srinath Bhashyam and Sumant Srivatsan, retained the upper hand. However, the team ‘CID from Kerala’, consisting of Chandrakant Nair, Hrishikesh Verma and Praveen VR, won the quiz by giving a tough fight and securing part-points in the final question of the finale. Nair shouted ‘Yes!’ In excitement, when his teammate provided the correct answer to the last question ‘Ao Hume’, that propelled him to victory. ‘Travelling Pillsbury’ took second place, while ‘BMQJ’, which featured Varun Rajeev, Krishnamurthy Ganesh and Vikram Rajan, finished third.

Team ‘BMQJ”s Ganesh was excited about the podium-finish and the fact that he was finally able to participate in a personal quiz with partner. “It was so early to be able to do the live quiz,” he says. His partner Rajeev said, “It was a typical Dr. Jayakumar quiz with twists and turns, with no team drawn, and the quiz going down. The last question. The best team won by the shortest margin. “

Apart from the prize money, the winning teams were also awarded a hamper of hand-picked books by Thomas Abraham, Managing Director, Hachette India. Team ‘Ex Bankers, We Lost Interest’ comprising Ashwin Prabhu, Srinivasan Rajagopal and Karthik C won the Wickiest Team Name award. Team Quiz Sir? okay sir!’ (Aditya Kannan, Uddhav Krishnamani and Nitish Kumar) and team ‘F27DA32’ (Ujjwal Kiran Das, Rohan Dharmadhikari and Advait Phadnis) won the Best College Team and Runner-up College Team awards respectively.

Verma of the winning team says, “I am overjoyed to experience so many things during the pandemic: the agony over guesswork, the thrill of formulating an answer, and most importantly, meeting friends. Hope this continues every year!”

Gopal Kidao, one of the finalists and President of QFI, Chennai concluded, “Dr. Jayakumar’s intriguing questions captivate everyone. The pin-drop silence during prelims followed by ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when the answers come in is an experience in itself that leaves you with the satisfying feeling of a well-spent evening.”

With this, the curtain on the fun, mind and enthusiasm was removed. Congratulations on many more open quizzes in the years to come!

first article