A trophy drought is a hard thing to break. Ask the Black Stars. It has been 37-years since the last trophy.

But if you are looking for rainmakers – ask three boys from St. Augustine’s College whose heroics have ended a 12-year drought at the National Science and Maths Quiz 2019.

St. Augustine’s stopped defending champions St. Peter’s SHS from making it four trophies.

Then they hashed completely a Presec hashtag to promote a potential record sixth trophy. #letstalkaboutsix was number two on twitter.  But there is always #letstalkaboutnextyear.

But the true weight of this achievement is seen in the fact that last year, they were not even here. No, I don’t mean the finals. They were not even part of the competition. They watched at home.

The big school have had little to show for in competitions. Only monochrome pictures of yesterday’s heroes piling dust and cobwebs in their headmaster’s office.

At times, St. Augustine would arm-twist three points from the quiz mistress with long winding answers until hitting all the key words, an exasperated mistress would get give up the three points.

Presec, St. Peter’s tried long-winding answers too. ‘You people like telling stories’ Dr. Elsie Kaufman would say and add ominously, ‘I am not accepting that [answer]’.

St. Augustine’s College won the first round by a handsome difference. They kept their lead after two rounds with 28pts. Presec 20pts. Peter’s 11.

And although they didn’t do well in solving a question on Down’s syndrome, Augusco didn’t go down after that Problem of The Day round.

And when Augusco fans saw their substitute Newton, rise up from the front row and walk across to prepare for the Fourth Round, the Augusco into singing ‘Things are getting better’.

Newton is a super-sub. He changes Augusco’s game either through comebacks or simply strangling the opponent to keep any ideas of an upset unlikely.

The boy walks about with a name associated to the English physicist who propounded the scientific laws of motion. When he steps in, it is an unofficial game. And he stepped in.

To be fair, Newton got more than one question wrong. The first time ever he has done so whenever he came on. Presec and St. Peter’s celebrated his misses like Menzgold clients celebrated NAM1’s arrival.

There is always something to take away at NSMQ grand finale. There is the trophy, the trolls or, as we found even regrettably in 2017, the quiz mistress’ bag. 

A word about St. Peter’s. Their main man, Michael eyed Wesley Girls High School and called them ‘the Egyptians you see today, you will see no longer’, a verse from Exodus.

He was right. St. Peter’s added Wesley Girls SHS to an exodus of more than 125 schools at NSMQ.

And so when Michael referred to the dying words of Jesus on the cross, ‘it is finished’ the defending champions released a psychological fog of fear in the auditorium.

Jesus looked to be in the boat of his cherished disciple St. Peter’s. Until he jumped into St. Augustine’s boat after the first round. And stayed there.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post Augusco Are Winners of NSMQ 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

While their quick, intelligent and eloquent responses thrilled the millions who watch them week after week, little is known of the preparations which birthed that.

The contestants from Presec, St. Augustine’s College and St Peter’s perform so well on stage it almost seems they are keeping to a well-rehearsed script directed by Primetime, organizers of the quiz just to generate public excitement.

Questions from Kojo Yankson on the AM show on JoyNews brought the geniuses closer to viewers and listeners of Joy FM.

uring the interview, it was apparent, even to the disinterested observer, that these contestants were made of steel and baked in the hottest fiery furnace.

They approached questions bordering on any sphere of life with the same dexterity and brilliance with which they answer the complex science and maths questions during the Quiz.

 “I don’t hear the cheers when I am focused for the quiz,” was the response of a Presbyterian Boys contestant who was asked if the loud cheers from their supporters affect their performance in any way.  

What preparations went into the contest?

The role of old students from the various schools kept coming up.  

Alumni of these great give more than just deafening cheers. In unison, all three schools admitted that they have come thus far because of the support of their old boys.

Among other things, contestants from the Presbyterian Boys Secondary School said it is the incentives and direct support of their old students which keeps urging them on.

St. Augustine’s, for example, admit to having a special department dedicated to preparing students for the competition and this has been made possible by the benevolence of their old students’ association.

With such infrastructure, the school undertakes as many mock contests as possible including those with external schools.

These prior preparations help them overcome the pressure and stage fright which usual is typical of highly anticipated national contests.

The role of parents and family members came up, too.

For instance, famous Presec contestant, Dodoo Emmanuel Nii Amu said his sister is his psychologist, who has helped him to give his best at the contest without breaking down or burning out.

Kojo Yankson wondered how the contestants are able to answer varied questions from a broad field like science and maths. They said “we specialize. “

Specific areas are assigned to contestants such that depending on the areas a question comes from, a particular candidate elects to answer.

It is for this reason that some employ the substitution method where a candidate replaces another depending on the area of science the contest is focusing on.

These ensure that the pressure in the contest is evenly distributed.

On their anticipation ahead of the grand finale tomorrow, they said they were not apprehensive.

“Once you qualify to the finals only God has the final say. There are no big schools,” contestant asserted.

Pointing to their future aspirations, it was evenly distributed between the fields of medicine, petrochemical engineering, Computer Science and entrepreneurship.

The Journey so far

The three Schools emerged finalists of a contest which involved some 108 schools across Ghana.

The schools made it to the initial stage after qualifying from their respective regions.

The balloting for the 2019 NSMQ preliminary stage contest was held Saturday, June 15 – an event that was characterised by tension.

Each day, three contests were held at two venues simultaneously and the winners of the 36 contests, together with 18 highest scoring losing schools, will join the 27 seeded schools for the One-eighth stage.

he venues for the competition were the R.S Amegashie Auditorium and the New ‘N’ Block, both on the Legon campus of the University of Ghana.

The first contest took place on Monday, June 17 at the R.S Amegashie Auditorium between Chemu Senior High School, St. Mary’s Sem./Senior High School, Lolobi and EPC Mawuko Girls’ Senior High School.

While the schools that made it to the quarterfinal in 2018 have a seeded spot and will begin the challenge from the one-eighth stage, a better number, including some heavyweights went through the preliminary contests.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post How Presec, Persco and Augusco Prepared for NSMQ 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

All the three schools displayed a variety of skill and formidability in their journey to the final.

Only St Augustine’s came from the qualifiers to reach this stage. Presec and St Peter’s were seeded from the 2018 competition because they reached the quarterfinal.

But that won’t count in the grand finale; all that counts is who wants it most. The clash is one of top dogs as all schools have won the ultimate before.

St Peter’s will be determined to do a back to back and Presec have already declared that they want to win the title for a record sixth time.

St Augustine’s look unbeatable, they are the reigning Central Regional Champions.

Presec and St Peter’s qualified to the final with 48 points and St Augustine’s qualified with 53 points. 

Join us on Thursday, July 11 at the National Theatre in Accra for the showdown.

You can’t miss it. Live on Joy News, Joy FM and Myjoyonline.com

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post Augusco Joins Presec and Persco in Grand Finale of NSMQ 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

The second semifinal contest for the day was defined right from the first round with St Peter’s taking an early lead while they were chased by Tepa SHS.

Wesley Girls’ SHS was behind in the entire contest with their only point of shine being Round Three, known as ‘Problem of the Day.’

Of an available ten points in the round, they scored four, which was the highest.

But after that, the contest reversed to its tempo and St Peter’s finished it in style.

Of the four riddles in the last round, they answered three; sending chants of victory songs from the Nwatia-based school’s supporters into the R.S. Amegashie auditorium at the University of Ghana Business School.

The final scores were: St Peter’s SHS, 48pts – Tepa SHS – 28pts – Gey Hey, 26pts.

St Peter’s have now qualified to the grand finale for the second year running.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post St. Peters Joins Presec in The Finals of NSMQ 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

The Legon giants eliminated two-time champions Opoku Ware Schools and one-time winners, Adisadel College Monday morning. 

The ‘blue boys’ displayed fantastic energy throughout the contest and put it beyond the reach of the others by Round Four of Five.

Although Presec couldn’t answer any of the four riddles in Round Five, the gap was too wide for the chasing pack to catch up.

The scores ended at Presec Legon, 48pts – Adisadel College, 34pts and Opoku Ware School, 31pts

Adisadel has now been stopped from appearing at the grand finale for the fifth time consecutive. They won one of the past four they appeared in.

Opoku Ware School have won the tournament twice. They would have to try again in 2020 to have a chance of making it three.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post PRESEC Beats OWASS and ADISCO to Make it to Finals of NSMQ 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

Here are the contests for the semi-finals slated for 8th July, 2019

The post Exciting Contest at NSMQ 2019 Semi-finals appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

The two-time winners put up a strong performance to end the contest with 64 points.

University Practice SHS came into the contest prepared but just not enough. They scored an impressive 45 points at the end of the contest but it was of no threat to the Kumasi-based school.

Their title quest in the Primetime show continues perhaps 2020; despite their loss, they have a seeded spot for next year’s contest.

St Ignatius of Loyola SHS – who were also in the contest – failed to come to the party and finished it with just 21 points.

Opoku Ware School will face Presec, Legon who won earlier today with 68 points at the expense of Eastern Region giants, Pope John SHS and Minor Seminary and Sekondi-based St John’s School in the Western Region.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post OWASS Through to The Semi-finals of NSMQ 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

The Tema-based school presented a fantastic display of speed and steadiness throughout the contest to bury the two challengers, Osino Presby SHS and St Louis.

Coming into the contest, the strength of St Louis was only gauged by their seeded status but Chemu had made a name at the maiden Regional Championship in Accra.

They defeated the school with most National Championship trophies, five-time winners, Presec Legon.

Chemu then enjoyed an easy ride in the prelims.

So they were clear favourites for this tie and have finished it off with a wonderful performance.

The contest ended with the scores standing: Osino Presby, 14 pts, St. Louis, 30pts, Chemu SHS 43pts

They have now secured a seeded spot for the 2020 competition and have qualified for the quarterfinal of the ongoing contest.

Chemu will face Keta SHTS and Oti Boateng SHS for a spot in the semis.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post Chemu Stops Late Scare from St Louis to Book Quarterfinal appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

The contest featured two challengers, Edinaman SHS and Bekwai SDA SHS.  

Ketasco successfully usurped a Round One lead from challengers Edinaman SHS who came from the Prelims as real favourites.

The Central Region school recorded 54 points in the qualifiers, one of the highest. They then proceeded to beat Ho-based Ola Girls at the prelims.

But on Monday morning, Edinaman was brought down by one of Volta Region’s best.

They tried all they could but in the end, they were last, behind Bekwai SDA who placed second in the tie.

The final results stood at: Keta SHTS, 27pts; Bekwai SDA, 19pts and Edinaman 14 pts.

The turning point came in the contest at Round Four, where a wrong answer from the True or False questions attracts a penalty of one point.

Edinaman trailed Ketasco with only three points before then but by the time the round was done, their tally had reduced from 13 to just eight points.

Despite them impressing in the last round, the game belonged to Ketasco. Like their Motto, Dzolali, which means fly at once, they had flown into the quarterfinal.

Kpando SHS in the Volta region has also qualified. 

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post NSMQ 2019: Ketasco Makes It to The Quarter-finals appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

The girls’ school took Breman Asikuma SHS and Akwamuman SHS out of the contest Friday evening.

Throughout the quiz, the girls showed fast and accurate reflexes as they answered the questions that were asked by Dr. Elsie Effah Kauffman.

The Wesley fans cheered and supported their school wholeheartedly -whether their answers were right or wrong.

The points the girls made were impressive as well although they got only 2 points in the third round.

R1

The quiz started tough. All contestants were on their toes as they tried to answer every question right. But Wesley Girls took charge of the round and their questions. Breman Asikuma and Akwamuman missed their last questions and got 5 points and 13 points respectively. Wesley Girls led with 21 points.

R2

The questions in this round are asked to all 3 schools simultaneously. Akwamuman answered the first question after Wesley Girls missed it. Yet the ladies were not going to give up their position. They rang their bells fast and answered accurately. Wesley Girls maintained the first place with 37 points. Akwamuman followed with 14 points and Breman Asikuma stayed in the bottom with 4 points.

R3

A physics problem was given to the schools to solve. After submission and assessment of the solutions, Breman Asikuma and Akwamuman had no points at all out of a possible 10 points for all schools. Wesley Girls had 2 points.

R4

The contestants are presented statements for which they are to answer for 2 points. They lose a mark when they answer wrongly. Wesley Girls were still on top of their game and ended the round with a whopping 49 points. Akwamuman managed to attain 21 points and Breman Asikuma got 14 points.

R5

The last round and all contestants answer the riddles. Breman Asikuma sadly took the last place with 14 points. Akwamuman had 24 points for second place. The Wesley Girls won the contest with 55 points.

The Wesley students waved their sashes and cheered after they were declared winners. They are through to the quarterfinals

Saturday’s quiz starts with Aburi Girls’ SHS, Kpando SHS and Kumasi High School. It will take place at the R. S. Amegashie at University Ghana Business School.

Source: myjoyonline.com

The post Wesley Girls Advance to Quarter-finals of NSMQ 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.