WATCH: Islamia College in surprise #HighSchoolsQuiz knockout win

Cape Town - Although it appeared Rhodes High School was set to win its knockout bout in the Cape Argus High Schools Quiz, it was one of the teams from Islamia Girls College which walked away with the most points.

Grade 11 pupil Aalia Saleh said she was proud of their achievement because they were not aiming for the top spot.

“We were nervous and it was nerve-racking, and then when I answered a question wrong, I almost cried on the spot because I was like, ‘no, my team,’ but then when we heard the results I was like ‘YES!’,” Aalia said.

“It was very unexpected,” her teammate, Sabiha Sulaiman, said.

Another team member, Nadirah Ismail, added that they had almost resigned themselves to the fact that Rhodes High School - which also hosted the knockout - had won because of how often it answered questions, and how often it got them right.

“We thought they had won, and that they had got the high score,” she said.

The Cape Argus School Quiz group 12 heat took place at Rhodes High today after school. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

Rhodes High School. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

The Grade 11 girls from Islamia Girls School are (right to left) Zaakiya Hoosain, Sabiha Sulaiman, Nadirah Ismail and Aalia Saleh. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

The learners added that studying for the knockouts had been easier because they had only a week’s worth of content to study, as opposed to the two weeks’ worth during the round robin stage.

“It’s easier, but there is more stress now,” Nadirah said.

The stress is sure to continue now that the knockouts have officially got under way in the Cape Argus High Schools Quiz sponsored by Food Lover’s Market in association with IIE’s Varsity College.

Although 64 teams faced off on Monday across the peninsula after making it through the first stage of the quiz, there will be no chance for slip-ups because the stakes will get higher.

There will be two more knockouts - on July 29 and on August 5.

Learners are competing for R 3000 per team member of the winning team, with R35000 for their school. The top two teams will compete in the National High Schools Quiz against teams from across the whole country.