The host of the National Science and Maths Quiz, Dr. Elsie Effah Kaufmann, has suggested that then defending champions Adisadel College, might have been intimidated by the crowd in the final of the 2017 competition.
The grand finale, held at the National Theatre, was eventually won by Prempeh College who garnered 53 points, edging past second-placed St. Thomas Aquinas by two points.
However, social media was dominated by talk of the performance of Adisadel College, represented by Edward De-Graft, Vanderpuije Quansah and Sylvanus Afful Assan-Annobil, who finished way behind on 31 points.
The highly-patronized final saw many old students of the participating schools join the crowd at the National Theatre to cheer on their contestants.
Speaking on the CBS on Monday, Dr. Kaufmann stated that, the two contestants’ performance might have been affected by the increased attention despite her attempts to get them to relax.
“Adisadel, on the final day, was not looking as confident as the Adisadel we had seen previously. The young men – De-Graft and Annobil – they seemed intimidated by the crowd. Every time I see that in a contestant, it bothers me. I tried to make some jokes to get them to relax but they were still so tense,” she said.
“The [contestants] can practice all they like at home and in their schools, but when they get onto the stage with the lights and the microphones, it’s a problem so they need to adjust quickly to deal with that kind of stress.”
