"Star Quest 09" Won by Mahinda College, Galle | IYA 2009

The second stage of the "Star Quest 09" islandwide Annual Astronomy Quiz Competition concluded today evening at the V.K. Samaranayake Auditorium, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. After the hot & astounding Grand Finals, Mahinda College, Galle emerged Champions, grabbing the elegant trophy of "Star Quest 09"

Today the Quarter finals, started at 11.00 am with the participation of 8 schools, that qualified for the further competition, at the end of the 1st Stage of "Star Quest 09", held on last 24th.

The Quarter Finalists of "Star Quest 09"

1. Ananda College, Colombo 10.
2. Mahinda College, Galle
3. De Mazenod College, Kandana.
4. Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya, Colombo.
5. Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo.
6. Visaka Vidyalaya, Colombo.
7. Royal College, Colombo.
8. Nalanda College, Colombo 10.

There was a noticeable interest from the zealous students, all of whom wanted to go ahead in the contest. However the following 4 schools qualified for the Semi Finals, making the selection of winners, narrower.

The Semi Finalists of "Star Quest 09"

1. Ananda College, Colombo 10.
2. Mahinda College, Galle
3. Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya, Colombo.
4. Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo.

In the first session of the Semi Finals Ananda College, and Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya were onstage, for the contest. Each team had 4 members and each school had to face three interactive rounds of questions, which were interrogated by the Miss Monika Madhavi, the president of Mathematical and Astronomical Society of University of Colombo. Then Mahinda College, Galle took on the astronomical team of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo. Sometimes the audience was so thrilled at the reactions and gestures of the students, who showed off their talents in Astronomy and related advanced sciences, like Cosmology and Astrophysics.

However, as per the marks, scored by each school, Ananda College, Colombo 10, and Mahinda College, Galle had the lead over their opponents.

The Grand Finalists of "Star Quest 09"

As the time passed by, the long-waited encounter arrived in the end. It was the elite Anandians who were taking on mighty Mahindians of Down-South. The grand final consisted of three rounds. First round delivered a separate question for each member of each team. The second round was funnier, as it was the busor round, which took the crowd with great joy and enthusiasm. The last round was a different session, which gave 3 niche-related words for each team for the precisest explanation. Each team had 2-minute time for expressing their idea on the special verbatim. It was astronomically funny to see each team getting together and building up the answer, collectively and the utterance, being expressed be an individual, as per the rules and regulations.

In the end, after an unforgettable quizzical experience in the International Year of Astronomy 2009, Mahinda College, Galle had taken the leading edge and thus were crowned Champions, while the Ananda College, became runners-up.

Then the chief guest, who was the renowned Dr. Chandana Jayaratne, a senior lecturer at University of Colombo, and both the patron and chief treasurer of the Mathematical and Astronomical Society delivered his address. He had been excited to behold such a good competition and said that he would envisage a separate department, arranged for Astronomy, in the long run.

The certificates, medallions and the trophy were awarded by the Dr. Chandana Jayarathne and the quiz-masters of the "Star Quest 09", Mr. Sachith Dissanayake, Mr. Praveen Janantha and Mr. Lasitha Senarathe, all of whom were alumni of Ananda College, coincidentally.

Further, Miss Susini De Silva, the Secretary of Mathematical and Astronomical Society of University of Colombo, made the vote of thanks, paying tribute to everyone, who contributed to the success of "Star Quest 09", organized by the Mathematical and Astronomical Society of University of Colombo. In terms of sponsorships, Sri Lanka Telecom was the golden sponsor, whereas ACBT, Achievers, National Lottery Board & Sustegen also sponsored
"Star Quest 09", providing financial means for the project. The event came to and end at 02:45 pm local time (05:15 h EDT), Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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I , J D Prasanna Deshapriya, the blogger of IYA 2009-Astronomy Sri Lanka was glad to report the event, and at the same time felt sad as I could not give all my readers, a live feed of the event, as just as it was taking place, due to technical and financial difficulties. However, I am looking forward to doing that next time.

Thus, another Sri Lankan contribution towards International Year of Astronomy 2009 | IYA 2009 came to a successful conclusion. Long live IYA 2009 !

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