Catz on University Challenge (spoiler alert!)

St Catharine’s is celebrating reaching the televised stages of the University Challenge quiz programme – having only qualified twice before in the last 20 years due to tough competition at the try-outs. The team’s first-round match was broadcast last night (9 September) and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Meet the team

Pictured from left:

• Jay Sardesai, who will return in October as a third-year Natural Sciences undergraduate
• Malhaar Mohirir, who has just completed his MPhil in Politics & International Studies
• Luna Jarvis (captain), who will return in October as a third-year Natural Sciences undergraduate
• Larabella Myers (2023, Technology Policy), who graduated since the series got underway

The team were supported by Matthew Connell (a first-year Maths undergraduate) as the reserve player, and by a teddy bear mascot (pictured centre) who they named Toby in memory of the much-loved dog of Lady Lyn Welland (Fellow Commoner 2020), Professor Sir Mark Welland (Master 2016–23; Honorary Fellow 2023) and their family, who sadly died earlier this year. 

First round results and reflections

In the first round of the 54^th series of University Challenge, St Catharine’s was pitted against Wadham College, Oxford. Host Amol Rajan welcomed both teams in his second year as host, continuing in the footsteps of St Catharine’s alumnus Jeremy Paxman (1969, English; Honorary Fellow 2001) who stepped down from the role in 2022 after 28 years.

The scoreline was nail-bitingly close after the first 20 minutes, when St Catharine’s were gaining on Wadham and only 10 points separated the teams. However, Wadham pulled ahead in the final minutes to win with an impressive 180 points to St Catharine’s 120 points.

Sir John Benger (1979, English), Master of St Catharine’s, commented:

“On behalf of the Catz community, I want to thank the whole team for doing such a sterling job of representing us on University Challenge. While their wide-ranging knowledge of subjects spanning the etymology of diseases and discontinued crayon colours was impressive, I am particularly proud of the confidence and camaraderie that they showed throughout the match. I’m pleased to say that Amol’s description of the Catz team as ‘terrific contestants’ was entirely accurate!”

Reflecting on the team’s positive experience, Luna said: 

“We had such fun as a team, playing table tennis together pre-match to get our heads in the game and even going out for karaoke with our opponents afterwards! It was really cool seeing the studio after loving the show as a viewer for so long, although the whole day felt a bit surreal!”