We are Team#9

Only the top 8 teams attempt 90% of a typical college or open quiz in India.

Let that sink in.

At most 32 people attending said quiz get to attempt most of it.

It is the worst sport one can spectate.

For someone not into quizzing, its pursuit can seem curiously masochistic.

Each weekend, you brave traffic in your cities to get to a modestly comfortable space and spend a few hours asking or answering questions.

Armed with a pen (unless you’re Sai Ganesh), with mostly legible handwriting (unless you’re Sai Ganesh), you attempt to answer prelims as part of a team in the race to the top 8.

You confer with your team, an answer is chosen and written on the prelims sheet. You dodge starred questions, sudden death answers and other menacing obstacles placed your way.

When you don’t win the race and miss out on qualifying, it’s like you’re always stuck in second gear. It isn’t your day, your month or sometimes even your year.

We’ve been there. We are that team which has had so many honourable mentions, that I now wonder why we didn’t call ourselves “honourable mentions”. Yes, that team name is up for grabs. You’re welcome.

Our many honourable mentions led to us calling ourselves Team#9.

We’ve always been on the fringe, aspiring to be in the top 8. Sometimes we’ve managed to qualify, leading to some memorable mentions.

“Next question goes to Team#4, Team#9.”

You get the drift.

It wasn’t long before we figured out we were not the only ones on the fringe. Every person who didn’t make it to the finals was on the fringe.

Just because you didn’t answer enough of the first 25 questions doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have aced the remaining rounds if you had a fair shot.

You will be given a chance to answer every question of every quiz we host.

We are all Team#9.