JuniorSharks Quarterfinals: Kotoka JHS vrs Life International School

The second episode of the quarterfinals of Junior Sharks Season 4 featured Kotoka JHS versus Life International School.

Early on, fans had witnessed a scintillating encounter between Manna Int. and DPS. Undoubtedly, the stakes are higher at this stage of the competition.

Thus, teams that choose to trifle with any given round do so at their own peril. Kotoka JHS and Life International therefore had their destiny in their own hands. As transpired in the first episode, the second episode also produced potential "MVP" candidate(s) of Junior Sharks Season Four.

It's as if the oft-repeated cliché of "separating the boys from the men" is being actualized.

Let's see how the Rounds panned out and which contestant(s) emerged as the cream of the crop.

Round 1

By kind sponsorship of Kelloggs, Round 1 kicked off with Kotoka JHS. Ironically, Kotoka attempted all questions head-on and unluckily hit a snag on most questions.

By not letting tricky questions "pass", the opportunity to gather their thoughts and have a second bite at the cherry was lost.

When their set of questions was completed, Kotoka JHS had thirty (30) points. It was the turn of Life International to show if they'd learnt any lessons from Kotoka's missteps.

They delivered similar approach as their opponents, except that they did one better.

Life International ended the round with forty (40) points.

Round 2

Otherwise known as 'R Cube', questions are formulated around Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.

Before the set of questions could be administered, Life Int. effected a substitution. Sybil came on for Clifford.

Life Int. had the upper hand in the Reading and Writing department. The pendulum swung in the favour of Kotoka in Arithmetic as Wilhelmina and Abubakar showed their strength.

Scores at the end of the Round stood at twenty(20) for Kotoka and fifteen(15) for Life International.

Round 3

Kotoka also effected a substitution and brought on Christabel for Wilhelmina. Proceeding, Abubakar remained unruffled by his earlier near-misses in Round 1. He took the risk and buzzed to the first question in this Round before it was fully read out.

And yes! he was correct-Quizmistress affirmed admiringly. Abubakar's pivotal contribution to the fortunes of Kotoka was beginning to tell. It appeared as if the fate of his school rested particularly on his small shoulders.

At the end of the Round, Abubakar's significant impact resulted in Kotoka bagging fifty(50) points.

Life Int. meanwhile lost grounds and ended with just ten(10) points.

Round 4

Still anybody's race mathematically speaking, the last round was going to be the decider. Impressive Aillyn and masterly Abubakar heeded the call to showcase their proficiency in English for Life Int. and Kotoka respectively.

Aillyn buzzed with lightening speed to take the first question correctly for Life. Abubakar wouldn't allow Aillyn to outshine him.

And on the second question he equally beat Aillyn to it with neck-breaking speed. Math 'sharks' were Israel and Sybil for Kotoka and Life respectively. Both produced incorrect answers on the first question.

Israel, however, brightened the chances of his team by taking the second question correctly.

Elsie and Gerrard for Life Int. and Kotoka respectively took their turn as Science Specialists.

Gerrard picked the second question correctly after both missed the first. For the first time in the Junior Sharks Season Four, something extraordinary happened: a contestant represented his team in two subject areas.

That contestant is no other than Abubakar, who had appeared in the English segment prior.

He and Clifford mounted the podium as General Knowledge experts for Kotoka and Life respectively.

Once again Abubakar did not disappoint as he took the first question correctly. He rightly identified the photo of British-Ghanaian actor Idrissa Akuna Elba, known in showbiz as Idris Elba. Clifford meanwhile appeared to be in sixes and sevens. Nonetheless, he also correctly identified the hit song "Johnny" by Nigerian afropop singer, Yemi Alade.

It was a befitting end to another contest that lived up to the billing. But it was Kotoka JHS, Burma Camp, Accra, who booked a date with Manna Int. at the semifinal.

#Sharks@5 is endorsed by the Ministry of Education and brought to you by kind sponsorship of Kellogg's.

Supported by: Academic City College, Family Health Medical School, Lewis University, Vivo Energy, Indomie, Schweppes, Ashesi University and Chopbox.