Leeds Student’s quiz team are to face their toughest challenge ever this week, as they head to Birmingham for the national finals of the i Paper’s iQuiz competition.

At the regional stage – held last term in Old Bar – the team scored a record 39 points, higher than any other team in the country.

The iQuiz challenges university students from across the country in a battle of wit and quick thinking, set by internationally-renowned question-master Simon O’Hagan.

“I always tailor my quizzes depending on the audience and the iQuiz won’t be any different”, said O’Hagan. “I’m aware that what someone born in the early 1990’s is going to know is different from what someone born 20 years earlier will know”.

Commenting on the team’s initial regional success, O’Hagan praised their score as “More than respectable. I’d say it was excellent, in fact.”

Should they win, the LS team can look forward to an all-expenses paid, two week tour of the United States provided by sponsors Trek America and Endsleigh Insurance.

Team captain and News Editor Max Bruges said “We’re confident about our chances. There’s some strong competition ahead of us but using our superior intellect and the power of friendship, we should emerge victorious.”

Sports boffin Hugo Greenhalgh spoke of his area of expertise – “pre-war cricketers” – as crucial to the team’s success. “Knowing the difference between your Hedley Veritys and your Bannister Foliages is something I pride myself on”, he said.

Team-member and fellow sports editor Joe Bookbinder commented “Some people are Olympians, some people compose symphonies, but this is my magnum opus. I can’t wait.”

Words: Max Bruges