Latest news with #Christ'sCollegeCambridge
Irish Independent
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
‘I hope you don't expect us to win': rival Irish University Challenge captains join forces for a fiendish pub quiz
Oscar Despard and Kevin Flanagan were recent opponents on a semi-final of the long-running BBC show. Louise McLoughlin takes them to a London pub to see how they fare with a less academic test I've never been great at pub quizzes. So the opportunity to team up with two of Ireland's best and brightest minds promised some vindication – even if only as part of a team. On a personal level, a friend had suggested beforehand that the experience had the potential to be humiliating. I suggested 'humbling' was perhaps a better word. A win is a win, after all. In all honesty, I expected my contribution to be minimal. The two other members of my team were Dubliners Oscar Despard (22) from Portobello and Kevin Flanagan (29) from Dundrum, who recently went head-to-head in the semi-finals of University Challenge. Despard, who is studying for a PhD in molecular biology, went on to lead Christ's College Cambridge to its first ever victory on the show, winning a tense final by just five points. Flanagan captained the team from Bristol University, where he is doing a PhD in AI.
Irish Independent
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘It was strangely nerve-racking watching it back' – Dubliner Oscar Despard on University Challenge triumph
Dubliner Oscar Despard has said it was nerve-racking watching back the final of University Challenge, despite knowing the outcome, after he and his Christ's College Cambridge teammates edged out Warwick in a dramatic victory. The 22-year-old from Portobello captained his team to a nail-biting 175-170 win in a match that went right down to the wire, ending with a final-minute comeback and a winning buzz from teammate Brendan Bethlehem. Related topics Sarah Burke
Irish Examiner
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Dublin student 'stunned' after leading team to victory on BBC's University Challenge
A Dublin student has led a Cambridge team to victory in one of the UK's most prestigious and contested televised quiz competitions. Oscar Despard captained a team from Christ's College Cambridge to victory in the final of the long-running BBC student quiz show University Challenge on Monday night. The team trailed behind the University of Warwick for most of the final but took the lead in the final minutes, winning by just five points. The final score was 175 to Christ's Cambridge and 170 to Warwick. Competing in the BBC series had been a childhood dream for Despard - made even better when the winning trophy was presented to the 22-year-old from Portobello and his team-mates Linus Luu (maths), Brendan Bethlehem (linguistics), and Anniko Firman (classics) by the actor Ian McKellen. Speaking to Oliver Callan on RTÉ Radio 1, Despard said he kept the outcome 'very quiet' and that people were surprised by their win. He said his father, William, who runs a bakery in Portobello, and his mother, Niamh Moran, a professor at the Royal College of Surgeons, were very proud of him. Despard said there was a big turnout for a special event hosted by the college, where the quiz show was screened for the crowd in attendance, including the master and fellows of the college. Back home in south Dublin, another screening took place at his former sailing club in Dún Laoghaire. He said his sister, who lives in England, was also watching on the night. He said that despite the show being recorded some months back, he felt anxious all over again while watching it back for the first time, describing the last few minutes of the show as 'too close for comfort'. 'It's a show I have been watching for a long time, as has all the rest of the team, so we were all quite somewhat stunned but also happy to have won, especially under the circumstances,' he told Callan. At the age of just 14, Oscar did a project for the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition on how gluten degrades during long fermentation in sourdough bread, and he later went on to win the Individual Prize at the exhibition in 2020. The 22-year-old, who is studying for a PhD in molecular biology, attended Sandford Park School in Ranelagh and was one of just two Leaving Cert students in Ireland in 2021 to achieve nine H1s.
RTÉ News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
President congratulates Irish University Challenge winner
President Michael D Higgins has congratulated Oscar Despard on captaining his team from Christ's College, Cambridge, to victory in the final of University Challenge. Speaking on the Oliver Callan show, the Dublin student said he was "somewhat stunned but very happy" when his team won the competition. Mr Despard, who was captain of Christ's College Cambridge team, said the win was too close for comfort but fun to watch last night. He explained that the show had been recorded a few months ago. However, he said he still got worried halfway through the viewing of the programme last night. The college put on a special viewing and drinks reception even though they did not know if the team had won or not. Mr Despard watched University Challenge in the main lecture theatre along with a "large turnout" of students, the Master and the Fellows. "It seems stupid to say, but you get anxious all over again," he said. Mr Despard said he kept details of his involvement "very quiet" and he received an influx of texts last night. However, he said he thinks his mother got even more texts than he did. He said his mother organised an event to watch the show at his old sailing club in Dún Laoghaire. He added that his father said he was very proud, and his sister had been supportive throughout.
Irish Independent
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Dubliner Oscar Despard leads team to victory in University Challenge final
The 22-year-old from Portobello led Christ's College Cambridge to the final of the competition, where they achieved 175 points to beat the team from Warwick University by just five points. His team were presented with their trophy by award-winning actor Ian McKellen, who congratulated the Dubliner and his team on their win. Mr Despard, who is studying molecular biology at Cambridge and has begun a PhD focusing on proteostasis – how cells maintain a balance of making and breaking down proteins – using cryo-electron tomography, has said taking part in the programme was a childhood dream. Speaking to the Irish Independent last week, Mr Despard said: 'I watched the show a lot growing up, with my mother in particular. So when I ended up at the University of Cambridge, it was a natural thing to try because I thought it would be quite interesting. 'I went about setting up a quiz society at Christ's College to administer the college's participation. We ran a two-round selection process, starting with an online quiz that people could complete in their own time. 'Then we invited the 10 best scorers to take part in an in-person round on the buzzer.' Mr Despard earned nine H1s in his Leaving Cert from Sandford Park School in Ranelagh, and was awarded the best individual prize at the BT Young Scientist exhibition in 2020. His mother, Professor Niamh Moran, is a scientist at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He said his family were 'very excited' to see him compete as he revealed that his team shared a spreadsheet of more than 200 knowledge areas to revise ahead of the notoriously difficult quiz. 'I got to read all of Shakespeare, which I probably wouldn't have done otherwise,' he said. 'And we did a surprising amount of video game revision – they've broadened the question topics in recent years.'
