AISG Quiz Team: All the Right Answers

On February 10th, our school’s very own Quiz Bowl team attended their second tournament, this time at Brent International School in Manila. After a fierce day of competitive trivia, the AISG A Team won first place, marking our first championship trophy. Update: In exciting news, based on their victory, the Quiz Bowl team was recently approved to attend the U.S. High School National Academic Quiz Tournament in Atlanta at the end of May—stay tuned to the Beacon for more details!

Similarly to the Shanghai Invitational last semester, there were 2 teams from AISG at the tournament. This time, the teams were a little different since a few players couldn’t participate. Team A led by me, Jacky Liu, featured freshmen Benjamin Lu and Jennifer Yang and sophomore Stanley Wang. AISG B team, led by Henry Wang, featured sophomores Thomas Bernards and Chris Kim.

At the tournament at Brent, there were 8 teams in total, 2 teams from each of the 4 schools that attended. There were teams from Faith Academy Manila, International School Manila, Brent International School Manila and American International School of Guangzhou.

The tournament started with a round robin in 2 pools, each pool featuring one team from each of the schools. In pool A, AISG A team dominated the pool by defeating every other team. And in pool B, Team B, which was missing a few of its power players, lost the round robin. After the round robin, they held the semi-finals and the consolation match where both Team A and Team B triumphed.

After that, we went down to the cafeteria and enjoyed an excellent lunch in the company of the other teams. For the first time that day, participants seemed relaxed and happy. Teammates talked to each other about what they could’ve done better and laughed at their embarrassing moments. Some of the teams spoke to the other teams, greeting opponents and getting to know them. Team B member Thomas Bernards said, “We got to meet some of the people that we were ‘admiring’ earlier. One of the guys that I got to know was the ‘math guy’ of the other team. He answered all of the math questions so fast, the other teams, including us, didn’t even finish understanding what’s being asked!”

After lunch, teams were back to their fierce state, ready to buzz in and answer any question thrown at them. The first match was between ISM A-Team and Brent B team. This round was held not in a classroom like previous games, but at the theater where the other teams watched them engage in their battle of wits. Stanley Wang, who had seen the same arrangement at the last tournament, remarked, “The major difference is that at Brent, they projected the score at the backdrop of the stage. That was new and it made the game much more intense. Throughout the game, you can see the teams physically reacting to the scores . . . and the scores were so close.”

Brent B team ultimately defeated ISM B team, but ISM put up a great fight. Then it was our turn. We had to go on the same stage and try our best to win despite extreme pressure. After 30 minutes of battling for the ‘buzz’, we won. The tournament went much faster than I thought it would. I had never expected that we would even win a couple of games, but a couple of hours later, we were sitting underneath the blinding lights on the stage, impatiently waiting for the clue that would provide us with the answer. After the final, we were all in shock and a bit shaky. Our practice paid off, and it was a great experience that I hope we can duplicate again and again.

We were all surprised and rejoiced at our victory—many of us didn’t even know how to react. It was a fantastic game and a great experience for everyone on the team. Thanks to our coaches Mr Sinclair and Mr Baier, we were much more prepared and improved substantially since the Shanghai tournament. I can hardly wait for the Atlanta quiz showdown in May.