Cape Town - Their brows furrowed in concentration. Their muscles tensed, poised to fire in milliseconds. Every spectator fell silent in anticipation.
No, this wasn’t a flashback to the Olympics. It was the Cape Argus Food Lover’s Market High Schools Quiz final.
South Peninsula High School walked away triumphant with a trophy and R35 000 prize money for the third year in a row, with Maitland High claiming second place, Steenberg High came third, and Fairbairn College fourth.
The winning team was Tay-yibah Sambo, Ganeefah Schloss, Huda Adams, Luqmaan Mathee and reserve Zeyad Mathee. Luqmaan said the team had even been practising on Sundays in preparation.
Cape Argus editor Gasant Abarder said he was impressed with the high schoolers’ minute attention to detail and incredible memory. “Every year I’m surprised to see the commitment these kids put into the Schools Quiz,” he said.
“It’s a well-deserved hat trick for South Peninsula High School.”
Starting with 120 teams, quiz rounds whittled them down to only the best.
Monday night was the showdown that eight teams from across the Western Cape had been training for. It was the semi-final and final, hosted at The Academia in Lansdowne. The high schools teams of four pupils competed through tough questions based on stories featured in the Cape Argus in the month of August.
In the first semi-final, teams South Peninsula High C, Maitland High A, Mondale High B and Steenberg High A, went head-to-head for their spot in the final. Maitland High A scooped first place with South Peninsula High C coming in second, earning them both a spot in the finals. The second semi-final saw Steenberg High E, Fairbairn College B, South Peninsula High A and Islamia College for Boys A, fight for the two places in the final.
Fairbairn College B won the round, with Steenberg High E sneaking into the final in asudden-death tie-breaker.
Cape Argus deputy news editor, Lance Witten, played quiz master, but each question had barely escaped his lips before a buzzer sounded.
MEC for Education Debbie Schäfer said the pupils were building their confidence through healthy competition and having fun while learning about current affairs.
Cape Argus