How rare is it when the host actually introduces both contestants together another time after Florence and Sam last week. I didn't know each contestant was allowed to bring one person to the studio as the audience beforehand (I thought it was more), and the fact that Dan and Ahmed chose each other respectively given that they became friends at Co:Lon 2022 makes me respect them even more. It's time to put aside the North-South rivalry and play the match! Dan has admitted that he's never won against Ahmed either at Co:Lon or on Apterous, let's see if today is his lucky day or if not, how close can he come to defeating him.
Letters: First highlight of the game, and they clinched maximum points here in all but one of the rounds. The stakes are high and so is the standard of play. Commendable spots in the first-third were Ahmed's TITMOUSE in R1, DOMANIAL in R2 by both, GESSOES by Ahmed in R7 and AVERLY in R8 by both in the second-third, and finally in the last third, BIGARADE by both in R13. And that last word too, despite having no nines in this match, takes the both of them over the century line as we await the outcome of the last numbers round afterwards!
Numbers: Second highlight of the game, with both of them grabbing all 40 points available here! Dan, who has the first opportunity to select the numbers, goes for 4 Large in an attempt to try to break the tie, but it's too easy for a match of this calibre as Ahmed found a method to hit the target. Rachel by now doesn't need to ask what Ahmed wants
, 1 Large it is for R6 and they both get it. Dan tries 4 Large again but CECIL is too kind and throws up a simple 499. Finally, Ahmed goes 1 Large again and with 975 simply being 25 × 39, it's a tie for all 14 Rounds up to this time! Damn, 111 points a piece, time to calm down for a moment before we come to the final section!
Conundrum: I couldn't bear to watch the end, someone has to go because we cannot end in a stalemate and have the conundrum unsolved. I see the conundrum and start thinking, I hear Ahmed's buzzer after 1.5 seconds and he says the answer is POPLITEAL with confidence! IT IS CORRECT and he goes through to the Championship Final!!
Sam Cappleman-Lynes wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:08 pm
Yep, it was the only one, no other conundrums edited out.
WOW, I bet that moment left all of us on the edge of our seats right until the very end! Thanks Sam for also clarifying this was the one and only conundrum used with none edited out in case some of you had doubts whether they cut out unsolved or incorrect answers to other conundrums due to time constraints!
You can't deny this has been the best game ever so far for this Championship, tying all the way, something that has not happened since the first semi-final of Championship of Champions XIV back in January 2016 and I believe this is highest score in terms of ties before the conundrum since Zarte Siempre and Philip Aston's first encounter in June 2018 (Do correct me if I'm wrong)! What an exhilarating match it has been against the two champions when Anne Robinson was the host and what an ending that was! Dan, 111 points on any typical match would be enough to see you through, but it was not enough and considering this is the highest losing score of the Championship yet. You fought well to the very end, forced Ahmed into his first crucial conundrum ever and perhaps this must have been your best game against him, a personal best for you! It's ok if you don't have a full-time job as Anne kept questioning you last year
, for you're now a PhD student and not many people can say they want to go down that path! All the best in the rest of your studies and hope we see you as Dr. Dan Byrom someday
Thanks for all the times you've been in the Daily Chat too watching your own games and commenting what was going through your mind at the time as well!
One last show, the grand finale will be airing in a few hours from now, which of the two Series Champions will clinch the prestigious title and become only the 16th person in history to do so? Who of the players with 14 wins each will take their 15th? Someone's got to win, someone's got to lose sadly. Will James or Ahmed (aka Rachel's bet to win) be the person in the former? Don't miss it as we close this Championship, hopefully with a bang!
Progress:
Preliminary 1 (02 January 2023):
Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Series 84 Runner-Up) vs Leo Smith (Series 82 Semi-Finalist) (
100 - 69)
Preliminary 2 (03 January 2023): Dinos Sfyris (Series 80 Grand Champion) vs
Elliott Mellor (Series 80 Runner-Up) (88 -
110)
Preliminary 3 (04 January 2023):
Ahmed Mohamed (Series 84 Grand Champion) vs Edward Byrne (Series 86 Runner-Up) (
121 - 76)
Preliminary 4 (05 January 2023): Stu Harkness (Series 84 Semi-Finalist) vs
James Haughton (Series 81 Grand Champion) (97 -
111)
Preliminary 5 (06 January 2023): Tom Stevenson (Series 86 Grand Champion) vs
Adam Latchford (Series 83 Grand Champion) (95 -
97)
Preliminary 6 (09 January 2023): Martin May (Series 79 Runner-Up) vs
Luke-Johnson Davies (Series 82 Grand Champion) (90 -
117)
Preliminary 7 (10 January 2023): Steve Hyde (Series 85 Semi-Finalist) vs
Dan Byrom (Series 85 Grand Champion) (70 -
108)
Preliminary 8 (11 January 2023): Matt O'Connor (Series 85 Runner-Up) vs
Sam Cappleman-Lynes (Series 82 Runner-Up) (78 -
101)
Quarter-Finals 1 (12 January 2023):
Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Preliminary 1 Winner) vs Sam Cappleman-Lynes (Preliminary 8 Winner) (
95 - 93)
Quarter-Finals 2 (13 January 2023): Elliott Mellor (Preliminary 2 Winner) vs
Dan Byrom (Preliminary 7 Winner) (102 -
106)
Quarter-Finals 3 (16 January 2023):
Ahmed Mohamed (Preliminary 3 Winner) vs Luke Johnson-Davies (Preliminary 6 Winner) (
132 - 100)
Quarter-Finals 4 (17 January 2023):
James Haughton (Preliminary 4 Winner) vs Adam Latchford (Preliminary 5 Winner) (
109 - 102)
Semi-Finals 1 (18 January 2023): Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Quarter-Finals 1 Winner) vs
James Haughton (Quarter-Finals 4 Winner) (91 -
100)
Semi-Finals 2 (19 January 2023): Dan Byrom (Quarter-Finals 2 Winner) vs
Ahmed Mohamed (Quarter-Finals 3 Winner) (111 -
121)
Championship Final (20 January 2023): James Haughton (Semi-Finals 1 Winner) vs Ahmed Mohamed (Semi-Finals 2 Winner)