Masterminders book early success
The first round of this year’s President’s Cup brought a question set with a decided literary slant which, along with some unfortunate absences, brought some low scoring and a couple of surprise results. The best performance of the round undoubtedly came from the Mastermind Club who achieved a remarkable 15 2-point answers in handing out a thrashing to Cambridge, who are clearly not reading the right books.
Elsewhere, Sussex found their reduction to three players was too great a handicap against Beds & Herts. The two counties struggled last season but look likely to be a force to be reckoned with.
Finally, despite or perhaps because of, a week’s delay in finding a venue, London could only manage to field two players against Oxford. This is disappointing, although perhaps good news for their rivals since the capital team won all of their games in the last competition. Despite being a man short themselves Oxford started the champions’ campaign with a defeat.
The next round of quizzes will take place next Sunday, October 18, with London,Oxford and Sussex hosting. I hope that all teams will make all possible efforts to have a full complement of players.
| Pos | Pre | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Avg | 2s | Pts | Form |
| 1 | - | Mastermind Club | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 25 | 20 | 45.00 | 15 | 2 | Wº |
| 2 | - | Beds & Herts | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 28 | 7 | 35.00 | 10 | 2 | Wº |
| 3 | - | Oxford | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 23 | 11 | 34.00 | 7 | 2 | Wº |
| 4 | - | Sussex | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 35 | -7 | 28.00 | 7 | 0 | Lº |
| 5 | - | Cambridge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 45 | -20 | 25.00 | 5 | 0 | Lº |
| 6 | - | London | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 34 | -11 | 23.00 | 3 | 0 | Lº |
| Cambridge | 25 - 45 | Mastermind Club |
| Gavin Fuller 16 Ray Ward 15 |
| London | 23 - 34 | Oxford |
| Mick Lancaster 12 Paul Steeples 11 | Mike Billson 20 |
| Sussex | 28 - 35 | Beds & Herts |
| Olav Bjortomt 16 | Fred Filby 17 |
| Pos | Table | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | West London | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 47.50 | 5 | 33 |
| 2 | North London | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 46.13 | 1 | 21 |
| 3 | Outer London | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 41.25 | 2 | 18 |
| 4 | Central London | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 44.13 | 3 | 17 |
| 5 | South London | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 36.50 | 0 | 10 |
| 6 | East London | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 37.00 | 0 | 8 |
| Pos | Division 1 | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | Broken Hearts (C) | 20 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 52.90 | 14 | 84 |
| 2 | Pericardium | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 50.95 | 9 | 77 |
| 3 | Nomads | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 50.15 | 12 | 72 |
| 4 | Atletico | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 47.85 | 8 | 62 |
| 5 | Allsorts | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 47.35 | 4 | 54 |
| 6 | Old Itonians | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 45.55 | 9 | 53 |
| 7 | Telstars | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 42.00 | 5 | 37 |
| 8 | Barb | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 38.70 | 5 | 27 |
| 9 | Pineapple | 20 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 37.65 | 4 | 22 |
| 10 | Waterloo Sunset | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 37.40 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 | Five Bells | 20 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 38.10 | 1 | 11 |
| Pos | Division 2 | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | Gray Monks (W) | 20 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 48.75 | 9 | 77 |
| 2 | Banana Splits | 20 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 43.65 | 3 | 67 |
| 3 | Rosslyn Park | 20 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 39.85 | 5 | 57 |
| 4 | Eclectics | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 40.80 | 4 | 54 |
| 5 | Accies | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 38.25 | 3 | 51 |
| 6 | Sons of the Dessert | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 39.40 | 6 | 48 |
| 7 | Mealy Bugs | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 39.10 | 4 | 40 |
| 8 | Ovalytes | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 38.20 | 4 | 38 |
| 9 | Outcasts | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 34.05 | 7 | 29 |
| 10 | Wharfside | 20 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 29.70 | 2 | 14 |
| 11 | London Scottish | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 29.90 | 1 | 13 |
| Pos | Table | P | W | D | L | 2s | Pts |
| 1 | Sussex | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 117 | 16 |
| 2 | Mastermind Club | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 122 | 11 |
| 3 | Oxford | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 81 | 11 |
| 4 | London | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 103 | 8 |
| 5 | Beds & Herts | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 94 | 8 |
| 6 | Cambridge | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 89 | 6 |