BHUBANESWAR: As the clarion for the ‘Battle of Brains’ is being blown, competitors for the most coveted quiz show, Mettle Meet, have gird up their lions to face their foes. The contest, however, is set to feature recurring participants including one of the defending champions and about four runners-up.
Representing Mother’s Public School, Utkarsh Panda, champion from the last year’s winning team in the junior category emanates prodigious chutzpah and is set to lead his team for the second time in the Mettle Meet 2019.
Utkarsh will yet again meet his former opponents in Krishna Aditya Mohanty and Vedant Giri from DAV, Cuttack, and Sahil Nayak and Arpan Chakravarty from DAV, Pokahriput. While Aditya and Vedant were declared first runners-up, Arpan and Sahil had to be content with the second runners-up position.
Discussing his love for quiz and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Utkarsh says, “I have been always curious about things and quizzes are the best way to check one’s awareness about the world. It’s an honour for me to be a part of Mettle Meet once again and I’m pretty confident that our team will win this year’s edition too.”
Juggling between classes, coaching and school, Utkarsh stated that he dedicates a considerate amount of time for the competition. Having an idea about the last year’s contest, he gleefully enjoys the challenges that Mettle Meet throws and modestly says that ‘his success is merely a part of his learning process.’
Meanwhile, Utkarsh’s opponents, who eye ‘revenge’ this time around, seem to have learned from their mistakes last year. Leaving no stone unturned, Krishna and Vedant have taken the modern route and the team has a weekend solely for preparations vis a vis online general awareness’ mock quizzes.
“Although we were beaten, we gave a tough fight and almost pulled it off. We were obviously defeated by the better team. We have made amends since then and have strategized our preparations this year. To be the winner amongst more than 30 teams is no mean task and it certainly needs a lot of work,” said Krishna.
While curiosity and excitement grapples many debutants, the defending champions and runners-up would surely possess an edge over their opponents courtesy of their experience. Their first-hand experience will be vital for their teams and perhaps will help settle a nerve or two when the state’s biggest quiz contest kicks off Saturday.