Bancroft’s to Hans Woyda Semis

Following their victory over St Paul’s Girls in their first knock-out match, Bancroft’s faced Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Barnet in the Hans Woyda Competition on Monday 8 February.  After a sluggish start in the first two rounds, during which time QE pulled ahead by 14-10, the team snapped into action so that, by the team round, the scores were tied at 17-17. In the team round, which was played as Five Fives, QE Barnet produced 16 correct answers as did Bancroft’s. Each team, therefore, secured a maximum five points and, at half time, honours were even at 22-22.

We then began to assert our authority and built a tentative lead to enter the last round (maximum 16 points) with a six point lead. In the final Quick-Fire Race Round, Peter, Sayon, Soumya and Alex held their nerve to hold out for a six point victory:  42 points to 36. This was a considerable coup against a very good team who had in the previous round beaten Habs Boys.

Congratulations to each of the team Peter Andreev, Sayon Uthayakumar, Soumya Krishna Kumar and Alex Yan, together with coach and manager Mr Conington, for being the first Bancroft’s team to reach the last four of this prestigious competition. In the Semi Finals, we will meet the winners of the Quarter Final between Watford Boys Grammar and either City of London or Harrow.

The Hans Woyda competition has been established for more than thirty-five years and is named after a former Head of Maths at Kingston Grammar School.  It involves 64 schools from Greater London and the Home Counties. A team comprises one pupil from each of the Years 9, 11, 12 and 13.