It was a busy start. We were to be outside of the hotel and in the bus by 8:30 in the morning to go back to where we were the day before, the G20 Secretariat, but this time, to take part in the actual competition. Our team wore hanbok, Korean traditional clothes that literally translates to "Korean clothes," for the event. There were a few others wearing traditional clothes from their countries, such as Japan, USA, Mexico, Nigeria, Argentina, and Oman. Others wore formal clothes consisting of suits, dresses, or their Navy uniforms (some of the students were those in the Navy school of their respective countries or taking a related course).
Just like the practice session from the second day, each semifinal consisted of 3 rounds: Spot the Odd One Out, Round the Clock (each team randomly choose a question and answer them in clockwise direction), Reversing Course (the rule is identical to the previous round but is in anticlockwise direction), and Finish Line ( a buzzer beater round in which the team to press the buzzer the fastest gets a chance to answer a question). The top two teams with the most scores from each semifinal go into the finals default while the teams with the two highest scores after them enters a Wild Card Round along with the other international semifinalists who placed third and fourth in their respective turns.
The first semifinals started at 9:45am. It mostly focused on questions related to foods of different cultures, books, movies, and other forms of entertainment, along with some history questions popping out here and there. Because some of the questions that came in the first semifinals were the ones our team was relatively confident on, we were getting a little convinced that we would do well when our turn came. It was giving us some sort of a confidence boost, and my teammate was particularly excited about the questions.
I regretted getting overconfident a few minutes into our own competition. The topics had changed and were mostly focused on facts about the countries around the world, as well as sports related questions here and there. It was some of our weakest topics. I had learned about some famous monuments, and I was somewhat disheartened that none of the questions related to it came. We did answer some questions, though, even if one or two of them were questions that were not counted due to being ones that we could answer for fun when the other teams got it wrong during the clockwise and anticlockwise rounds, one of them being on finding the 'odd one out' from four pictures of snakes and telling the reason why. I'm still hung up on some of the questions we got and could answer but forgot because of our nerves. Taking a part of such a big quiz in front of actual audience filling up the chairs of the hall itself was something I learned a lot from. Simply being in an international quiz with students from a variety of different countries was a big step out of my comfort zone, and although I wish I could have studied more for it and done a little better in the semifinals, I was proud of myself for doing this. I was surprised I didn't regret my 'adventure' even a little.
After lunch, it was time for the third and final semifinals, which seemed to be the main event of the day. I don't blame it since all the teams (not that the other teams weren't the main event; everyone did extremely well, and I enjoyed every part of the quiz) other participants were convinced would do great were in the last one. This was where a few monument questions came, along with quite a few questions on world history, locations, and some forms of entertainment such as movies and dances. It was compelling to watch them while trying to solve the questions ourselves from the audience at the same time. While we were able to solve some of the questions, others were quite complex. By thinking together with the other teams that already had their turn up at the stage like us made it easier for us to come up with answers, though.
Because there was a tie between Oman and Netherlands for fourth place, a quick tiebreaker was held to determine which team would go into the Wild Card Round and represent their country. The rules differed from the previous three semifinals, with the Quizmaster asking the questions instead of them being shown on the large screen in front of the hall and the tied teams having to write each of their answers. The paper where they wrote on were given to the Quizmaster and the team with the more correct answers could go into the Wild Card Round. Watching the whole thing was nerve-wrecking for me, possibly because it was interesting how the rules changed a little from the other rounds (which made sense, since it would take even longer if the same rules were followed) and I had gotten closer with the students from Netherland during the Icebreaking Dinner the day before and while cheering on for other teams in the semifinals itself. Both teams continued to answer correctly most of the times, but Team Netherland triumphed at the end.
The Wild Card Round took place between six teams: UK, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Australia, and Netherlands. Though it was extremely compelling to watch it -I still don't understand why I was feeling so anxious about the whole thing, even when I wasn't a part of the competition-, I would be lying if I said I didn't want to be up there in the Wild Card Round with the other teams. It was nice to cheering the teams on, shouting out words of encouragement whenever they answered a question accurately (we made sure it didn't bother them whenever they were thinking, of course), and continuing to solve the quiz along with the other teams.
Finalists: (Semifinals 1) European Union 2, Saudi Arabia, (Semifinals 2) Italy, Brazil, (Semifinals 3) Singapore, Germany, (Wild Card Round) Australia, and Netherlands.
Prizes were given out after announcing the Finalists. The Finalists got a trophy, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Apple Home Pod Mini, and a smart watch, while we got a Galaxy tab. That must have costed a fortune, getting digital devices as prizes for all the Semifinalists. Even the ship-shaped trophy was grand and well-made, with a book and an anchor sculpted on top of it. The mentors and students of each international team also got traditional Indian artifacts customized for G20 THINQ: the team members were given figures of a Konark Sun Wheel (symbol of ancient wisdom and democracy) and a Royal Indian Elephant (harbinger of wisdom and strength), and the mentors received a small copy of the National Emblem: Ashok Stambh (symbol of righteousness and truth). The customized artifacts I earned are now showcased in the living room of my house to remember all the memories of the G20 THINQ, not to mention that they are pleasing to look at, especially because of how colorful and eye-catching they are.
We freshened up back at the hotel, but because of our next scheduled event, we had to leave in just a few minutes to transit to Varuna Naval Officers Mess for Mess Night. Those who had their traditional clothing on for the Semifinals, including us, changed into formal clothes before leaving the hotel. Food and drinks were provided, and we finally got a chance to properly congratulate all the finalists. Perhaps because of going through the almost seven hours long Semifinals together, we were more comfortable around each other than the day before and got into conversations more easily.
We departed to each of our rooms early when we reached the hotel. The fourth day would be the start of our tour around the famous sites of India, and after a long day, much rest was required in order to wake up timely on the next day.
Oh, I almost forgot. Happy birthday to me!
Sweet 16:)
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