Dynamic duo win top prize

SCHOOLBOY quiz kings Gautham Krishnan and Mathew Aasish Tharakan have good reason to fly the flag ... after their general knowledge skills and a little local historical insight helped them secure a top accolade.

Their quick-buzzing action helped them pick up an impressive range of prizes including a laptop, gift vouchers and an array of electronic items.

The Asian School now proudly holds the annual Mothercare Inter-School Quiz Contest trophy after the duo stormed to success at the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam in Segaiya.

Gautham, 12, and Mathew, 13, say a solid team effort and perseverance steered them to victory in the seventh contest staged. Mathew said: "The questions were mostly logic-based. We were already ahead on points and were able to take the last buzzer round as well."

Organised by the Association of Mar Ivanios College Old Students (AMICOS), the contest was hosted by popular TV quizmaster Derek O'Brien who flew in for the event from India.

The contest had six rounds in total, but the boys explained that they had mustered enough confidence right from the beginning. Gautham said: "During round three, Mr O'Brien asked a question which we were able to answer and he was very impressed.

"The question was: In the Bahraini flag there are two colours, red and white. While the white represent the pearl, what does the red colour symbolise?

"We answered it quickly - the red colour stood for the cloth on which the pearl is kept on. He was very pleased and told the audience, 'we have a winning team'. And we proved him right!"

The Asian School duo beat 141 teams during the preliminary rounds and was one of six to be selected for the finals alongside New Indian School, Sacred Heart School, Al Noor International, The Indian School Bahrain and the New Millennium School.

Teachers Mini Roy, Veera Fernandes and Jalaja Rajagopalan were in charge of preparing and training the students for the competition and said they were extremely pleased and proud.

Mrs Roy, from Khamis, said: "The unity the children exhibited was very commendable."

Mrs Rajagopalan was also in the background team when her son Vishnu Raj and teammate Aravind Shekhar won the school's first trophy in 2007.

She said: "The children have also been extremely co-operative and dedicated. If they continue in this manner, I am sure they will be able to grow to reach even greater heights in the future."

The school's acting-principal Molly Mammen added: "I am very proud - it is a great achievement to have taken the top position amongst so many children."

Gautham, who hopes to become an officer with the Indian Foreign Services, believes reading newspapers helped him keep up to date with what is happening. Mathew, on the other hand, relied more on the internet and his mother, Mini Mathew, and he aims to become an aeronautic engineer and join the Indian air force.

Gautham is also delighted that he will finally get a puppy as he was promised one by his father for winning the contest. Dad P Unnikrishnan, 42 from Tubli, chairman and MD of Radio Voice and Strategic Publicity and Advertising Company, said: "He has been asking for a German Shepard for a really long time and we have begun our search now."

Mathew was all smiles as his parents took him out for dinner to one of his favourite restaurants, Takatak. Dad Mathew Tharakan K M, 47, an instrumentation engineer at BAPCO from Umm Al Hassam, said: "Aasish received a lot of support from teachers, friends and at home from his ever-supportive mum and a fiercely competitive younger sister Kripa Anne. My role was limited to some macro-mentoring ... in addition to being a financier for his quiz material and a 'glorified driver'."