We are the champions!

After some nail-biting final moments, the team from Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram,emerged winners of The Hindu Young World quiz.

R. Rajath and Ajay A Kumar from Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram, who emerged National champions in The Hindu Young World Quiz 2011.Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, Vijay Menon, regional manager, Tata Motors (extreme left), and M.V. Muthuramalingam, chairman, Velammal Educational Trust (extreme right) are also in the picture. Photo: S. Mahinsha

“Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi”. What is that, one would wonder! This was exactly the same reaction of the semi-finalists of The Hindu Young World Quiz 2011. While some guessed it to be the first few lines of the national anthem of Japan, the others thought it to be some ancient script. Even if the highly talented contestants failed to recognise the words, how could a die-hard fan of Harry Potter not know that it was the inscription on The Mirror of Erised, which can be translated as “I show not your face but your heart's desires”.

In the joy ride of this year's Young World Quiz, Ajay A. Kumar and R. Rajath of Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram, followed their heart's desire and emerged as the national champions at the Grand Finale of The Hindu Young World Quiz 2011, held in Thiruvananthapuram recently.

The Hindu Young World Quiz 2011, a Newspaper In Education (NIE) Initiative of

The Hindu , had around 20,000 students from 5,000 schools participating in 16 centres across south India. The grand finale saw six teams battling for the top honours. These teams were selected from two semi-finals in which 16 regional winners competed.

If one thought the

Young World Quiz was a serious affair with a set of tough questions to crack, quiz master V.V. Ramanan made sure that his carefully crafted questions had fun elements too. In what could be called a “nail-biting finish”, the Loyola team had to put all their hope on the last question to storm past George M. Thottan and Arshad Muhammed from Rajagiri Public School, Kochi, who were leading till then.

Dramatic finish

The fun world of quizzing was revealed as the last question on the screen read: what are “underground, carbon, Shift, Nitro, World, Hot pursuit (2010), the run (latest from November 15)” a non-exhaustive list of….

Both the teams competing for the title had the answers at the tip of the tongue, as it was simply about a video game they played. Of course the list represented the names of different versions of the “need for speed” game, a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts EA and developed by several studios. If there was a moment for “need for speed”, it was that moment when the Loyola team, at top speed, pressed the buzzer. As the quiz master announced the new champion there were cheers and hurray from the crowd because the “home team had won”.

The second runners up were R. Guru Pharshane and R. Avinaash of Petit Seminaire, Puducherry. The fourth position was taken by Harsha Vettam and Anshuman Karthik of Chirec Public School, Hyderabad. The fifth position went to Preetham Upadhya and K.N. Bharath Rao of Sharada Vidhyalaya, Mangalore, and the sixth position was taken by S. Mohammmed Shahul and K.M. Niharika of Camford English High School, Tirupati.

In his address at the prize distribution ceremony, the chief guest, Member of Parliament Mr. Shashi Tharoor, pointed out that quizzing would help build well-rounded personalities in the country. He congratulated the six finalists and distributed the trophies to the winners. He also handed over the keys of the Tata Nano cars to the champions.

“I have no idea what to do with the Nano car. But we are happy to bring back the title of Young World champions back to Thiruvananthapuram,” added an excited Rajath.

The champions also took home a cash prize of Rs. 50,000. The teams that came second and third were given cash prizes of Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 30,000 respectively. The other three finalists were given Rs. 10,000 in addition to other prizes.

The title sponsor for the event was Velammal Educational Trust. The associate sponsors were Extramarks, Indian Overseas Bank.

The national sponsors were Black Thunder, Reynolds, Gold Winner, Funfills, Amway, Success, Firefox, Cricket Caricatures, Maggi Noodles, Wilco Picture Library, Penguin Books, Vizag Steel Plant. The water sponsor was Bisleri. The car sponsor was Tata Nano.

The beverage sponsor was Real. Regional Sponsors were Noorul Islam Civil Service Academy (NICS), Wimdsor Rajadhani, Kowdiyar, Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Ltd, Style Plus, Babas - the complete photo studio, Supreme Nutrifud, Mahindra Holidays. The logistics partner was Cosmos Tours & Travels. Hospitality sponsors were Hotel South Park and Hotel Horizon. The event manager was I ads & Events.