Kumaran’s aces The Hindu Young World Quiz 2009

 

All smiles: Actor Puneeth Rajkumar along with Athith K. (left) and Subham Nandy from Sri Kumaran Public School, the winners of The Hindu Young World Quiz 2009, in Bangalore on Wednesday.

The team from Sri Kumaran Public School (SKPS), Mallasandra, Bangalore, outstripped competition and emerged victorious at the regional finals of The Hindu Young World Quiz 2009 at T. Chowaiah Memorial Hall here on Wednesday.

The SKPS team, comprising Athith K. and Shubham Nandy did not score in the first two rounds. However, they came from behind and garnered 100 points in the third “Rainbow” round and won the contest with a margin of 45 points.

Athith and Shubham, both students of Class IX, said they were “thrilled” and the win was yet to sink in. “We were confident of making it to the regional finals. But we never expected to win the competition; after the first two rounds, we had lost hope. Athith is a history buff and hence we could score 100 points in the third round. We built a huge lead and maintained it till the end,” said Shubham.

The two will represent Bangalore at the All India Final at Coimbatore on November 6. They received a cash prize of Rs. 8,000, certificates and trophies from The Hindu besides bagfuls of goodies from sponsors.

The team from Sri Kumaran Children’s Home (SKCH), Doddakallasandra, Bangalore, comprising Pranav C. and Abhishek V.S., as first runners-up, got a cash prize of Rs. 6,000, certificates and trophies.

Rahul D. Murthy and Rohit Sar from Manasasarovar Pushkarni Vidyashraya (MPV), Mysore, who were lucky to make it to the final round because the team from Delhi Public School (Bangalore South) did not stay on to complete the competition, were the second runners-up. They received a cash prize of Rs. 4,000, certificates and trophies.

After the preliminary written round, six teams made it to the final round on stage. The team from the Multixford Senior Secondary School, J.P. Nagar, Bangalore, took the fourth place while the team from the National Public School (NPS), Koramangala, finished fifth. The second team from Sri Kumaran Public School which made it to final round had to be satisfied with the sixth place. Actor Puneet Rajkumar, who was the chief guest, was greeted with loud roars by his young fans and gave away prizes to the winners. The actor, who was seen sportingly answering tough questions as part of an enthusiastic audience, said he was happy to be among children. Multin stage, he told the winners to bring laurels to Bangalore by winning the All India Final.

In all, 503 teams from 139 schools participated in the 10th edition of the competition. There were teams from Mysore and Tumkur in Karnataka, and Hosur and Shoolagiri in Tamil Nadu. For this year’s edition, S&M Kids Wear was the title sponsor while Kalasalingam University, the associate sponsor. The national sponsors were Black Thunder, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd., Gold Winner, Arokya Milk, Vizag Steel Plant, Lotte Caramilk, Crocs Shoes, Firefox Bikes, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Penguin Books, Cherry Blossom and Reynolds. Dabur Real Fruit Juice was the beverage sponsor. The regional sponsors were Eco Crystal Water Filter, Ramee Guestline Resort, BPL Technovision, Computer Warehouse, Silicon Kids and Brain Button.

Prism Books was the snacks sponsor. The event manager was iads & events while veteran quizmaster V.V. Ramanan hosted the show.