Defending champions Kingston College took one step closer to the finals when they defeated a very competitive Charlemont team to advance to the quarter finals of Television Jamaica's Schools' Challenge Quiz. The final score was 36-27.
Despite the major difference in the final score, the match was a keenly contested one, with Charlemont forcing KC to dig deep in order to secure victory. The score at the end of the first section, was KC 13, Charlemont 10.
Even though Charlemont did much better than their opponents in the second section, their effort it would turn out, was not enough to steal victory. After a very poor and disappointing performance in the second round, Kingston College knew they had to come with a fighting spirit in order to leave victorious in the end. The scores at the end of the second section was KC 22, Charlemont 23.
Fighting spirit
The fighting spirit in KC was very evident in the final section of the match. They attempted seven questions in this section and managed to answer all of them correctly. Charlemont on the other hand, though they tried, could not keep up with their North Street opponents.
The sound of the final bell signified the end of the road for Charlemont, a team that performed very well throughout the season, Their loss was not a disgrace however, as unlike some teams who seem to treat the competition like a big joke, it was clear that this team wanted to win and were very disappointed when that did not happen.
KC's Christopher Hare, told THE STAR, "This match is the one that gave them their confidence and exposure. They played a really strong Charlemont team that wanted to win and that augurs well for our next matches."
Steve Cummings, Charlemont's coach, said, "This loss is disappointing. They didn't execute like they were taught and they missed a lot of questions in the early sections, so they were under pressure in the buzzer section. This is a team that doesn't do well under pressure traditionally, so they collapsed.