OW Alex Gunasekera (2015) competed for Corpus Christi, Cambridge in the 2019/2020 series of University Challenge, making it to theĀ series finale against Imperial College, London.
Alex first applied to be in the show in November 2018, having studied Natural Sciences at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The team made it to the final, overcoming stiff competition from Merton College (Oxford), Magdalen College (Oxford), Trinity College (Cambridge), and Durham University.
Quizzing at MCS, under the auspices of quizmaster Mr Mac, prepared Alex well for the show, who said that most of his answers “came from knowledge picked up from GCSEs/A-Levels”. In the semi-final against Durham Alex showed off his numerical skills, and was rewarded with praise from Jeremy Paxman “ThatĀ is impressive”. In the final, Alex’s classical music knowledge served him particularly well.
When asked, Alex gave the following advice for OWs hoping to compete in University Challenge:
Starter for 10, anyone?