by Verona, Hans Woyda Co-captain
“On November 8th, our school’s Hans Woyda team, a quartet of competitive mathematicians, took on the team from John Hampden Grammar School in the second of three knock-out matches. Having drawn against WBGS in their previous match, tensions were high for the team, as a win was crucial to progress to the next round of the competition.
Representing our school in this match were Mithu (Y9), Paavani (Y11), Aniya (Y12) and myself, Verona (Y13).
The match was off to an uncertain start, with JHGS and WGGS racking up a total of 2 and 4 points respectively out of a possible 16. The following round tested the competitors’ teamwork and geometry skills, as we had to work in pairs to work out the answer. Whilst the teams struggled in this round, Mithu and Paavani answered both of their questions correctly, earning WGGS 4 points. However, the mental arithmetic round ended the slow start, as it was brimming with success for the WGGS team. It was based on determining how many times the digits of a two-digit number must be multiplied to create a single digit product, for example for the number 28 this would be 2 times: 2 x 8 = 16, and 1 x 6 = 6. There was also the opportunity to steal a point from the other team. The WGGS team racked up a total of 8 points, stealing two points from their opponents, whilst JHGS achieved 3.
In the team round, the competitors collaborated within their schools to find as many ways to make the numbers 1-40 using the digits 2, 0, 2 and 3 as well as any mathematical operations. JHGS excelled in this round, finding 30 combinations, and earning themselves 6 points, whilst WGGS only earned 3.
Halfway through the match, JHGS had 11 points and WGGS had 19.
After some delicious snacks and refreshments, both teams picked up 2 points in the calculator round, in which all the questions were related to volume. WGGS widened the gap with a stellar performance in the algebra round, gaining 7 points, whilst JHGS obtained 2. The final race round called for rapid thinking, as the first correct answer won the point. In this round WGGS cemented their victory, landing 8 points whilst the JCGS obtained 2. The final scores were 21 to JCGS, 36 to WGGS. Thank you to JCGS for hosting such an incredible match!”
