All set for Times of Oman Inter School Quiz Contest finals

Muscat: City Amphitheatre will today witness teams of students vie with one another for the honours in the Times of Oman Inter School Quiz Contest (TOOISQC) finals today.
The champions will take the Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali Rolling Trophy. Twelve teams, each from the junior and senior categories will clash for the title at 7pm.
It will be a fantastic sight, with the students pitting their intelligence against their brightest peers and doing better than themselves.
According to quizmaster Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramaniam, the final will be an entertaining event.
“I believe that all the teams selected for the finals are doing their best so the competitiveness will be high and that makes it an entertaining event,” he said.
Observing that the juniors seemed a little fearless, compared with the seniors, who are showing early signs of using competing tactics, Balasubramaniam said, “The juniors might produce a more entertaining final, even with their wrong answers sometimes.”
“All the 12 twelve teams are equally aggressive, therefore any school could win the title,” he said.
According to him, the senior quiz will be completely different and the pressure will be more than the junior section.
“I think there is a little bit of pre-quiz pressure because there are teams and children, who have done well in the past might feel the pressure of protecting their reputation and meeting expectations,” the quizmaster asserted.
“Seniors, in my view would rely on tactics that teams deploy, as well as the risks they take. At a senior level it would be more to do with situation management than with knowledge,” he said.
According to him, TOOISQC is a like a Wimbledon for school students. “It is a like a Wimbledon championship for the school children in quizzing because the platform which they are getting is massive,” he explained.
Different format
He also said the format for the finals will be different for both categories. “For the juniors, the format will be a more traditional style of quizzing, but when it comes to the senior category, it will be a speed-based one,” he explained.
Students from both the categories have been guaranteed that they will do their best to lift the titles. Most of them are preparing hard by covering all the topics that they have been asked to go through.
Some of them are preparing by taking part in some online quizzes prior to the finals. In-between the junior and senior quiz, international entertainer Prahlad Acharya will perform “Speaking Shadows,” his amazing hand-shadow act for the audience at the Amphitheatre.
Acharya is one of the few entertainers in the world, who uses his bare hands to create an unbelievable world of light and shade. He is an internationally renowned magician, ventriloquist, shadow play artist and storyteller.
The teams have been advised to be at the venue before the assigned time. TOOISQC is powered by Creme 21, with major sponsors being R&B, Muscat Pharmary, Pocari Sweat, Denim, Indomie, Al Mudhish and Suroor.
The co-sponsors are Kwality Ice Creams and Chiko.
The official host is Radisson Blu Hotel, Sohar and the official rent-a-car is Sixt rent-a-car, while Travel City-Travel Point is the travel partner. Venue sponsors are Relaxo, School Mate, Malabar Gold and Al Rawabi. Gift sponsor is Oman Phone. Other sponsors are Lakhoos Exchange, Al Nahda, Oasis, Sapil, Hoshan Pan Gulf, Parker Pens, and Nabil.