After a nail-bitingly close semi final, Suhurrith Adhikari lead his Quiz Bowl team and secured third place at the [location] state championship on April 19, showcasing teamwork and collaboration. Quiz Bowl is an academic competition where teams of students answer a variety of questions on real world topics.
A key moment for the team was when they won against a tough opponent, Strake Jesuit, by answering the last five questions correctly. The team placed 3 out of 22 in the championship, barely missing the semi-final cutoff by 20 points. For captain Suhurrith Adhikari, this type of competition is reminiscent of competitive sports video games.
“Quiz bowl is kind of like a competitive sports video competition, yeah. We had the state championship, which is like the interstate championship, last Saturday on April 19, we were able to get third out of like 22 teams, which is really good in our region… We just had to work on our bonus conversion, which is the extra points that you get as a team. But yeah, basically, overall competition went great, but you have to work on those fine details,” he said.
Adikhari also recalled how it felt to be in the heat of the tournament – and how close the competition was.
“So in the quarterfinals, which is like the beginning rounded the playoffs, we were playing Strake Jesuit and these guys are a really good team. We were able to get back in the game and we were able to get a win, and then steal the win as the under dog, basically, which was really good. We were able to compete a higher opponent, see the other team,” he said.
As captain, Adhikari has learned to value every individual on the team for their own skill set.
“I’d say everybody’s like a star player. But I’d say like PPG (Points Per Game) wise…Arjun Chibber and Long Nguyen are really good. But I think I’d say pretty much everybody holds their own weight,” he noted.
Adhikari further noted that his team provides unique insights during competition.
“A well-rounded team where everyone has something they’re better at. Everyone has their own category that they‘re good in, so we all complement one another. It‘s like a well-oiled machine,” he stated.
He also shared a sentiment about what Quiz Bowl means to him and why other people should try it out: “Quiz Bowl is actually a fairly community oriented tournament. It’s actually open to anyone, and we want anyone to try it out.”
