Championship of Champions XI
| Championship of Champions XI | |
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| ⟵ Previous | Next ⟶ | |
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| Series information | |
| First episode | 6 January 2003 |
| Last episode | 24 January 2003 |
| Highest score | 131 (Tom Hargreaves) |
| Number of contestants | 16 |
| Number of episodes | 15 |
| Results | |
| Winner | Graham Nash |
| Runner-up | Chris Wills |
Championship of Champions XI ran from 6 to 24 January 2003, and was won by Graham Nash. This was the first Championship of Champions tournament played in the 15-round format; the previous CoC tournaments used 9-round games up to the semi-finals, and 14-round games for the grand final (excluding CoC 1984 with the grand final for that tournament being a 9-round game).
Finalists in this tournament were selected between Series 42 and 48 inclusive, to give it the then-largest catchment area of all CoCs to date and it broke the tradition of once every four series. This CoC was unique for having a mixture of finalists consisting of 9-rounders, viscounts and old 15-round octochamps. It was also the first to include series winners from various formats (later joined by CoC 2016, due to the Series 67 finalists not participating in 30th Birthday Championship).
With two higher-finishing contestants being unable to make the studio dates, two losing quarter-finalists were invited to this one instead. Specifically, it was decided to invite back losing quarter-finalist Kevin McMahon instead of John Rainsden who had defeated him in their Series 44 quarter-final; however, Paul Ryan – a Series 46 semi-finalist – was unable to make the studio dates as was Stuart Wood, so Rainsden was also invited back. For no apparent reason, losing quarter-finalist Loz Sands was also invited back in place of series runner-up Steve Sandalls despite Steve eliminating her in their quarter-final and then subsequently finishing as series runner-up; this move was considered rather controversial by many fans of the series. The official reason for inviting Sands back was that she had apparently been a favourite with viewers in her 2001 appearances although some fans speculated that the real reason was because the only two female contestants who had qualified, owing the original criteria were Geraldine Hylands and Grace Page and there was concern that female fans of the series would lose interest in the event as a result.
The tournament started in low-scoring fashion, with Michael Calder being knocked out by Loz Sands. The following game was one of the greatest in the history of Countdown, with Chris Wills defeating David Williams after spotting the conundrum of ETERNALLY in a second to win by two points. The next three first-round matches all produced close scores but Tom Hargreaves produced a very noteworthy performance against John Rainsden, beating the former runner-up by 52 points. Julian Fell produced a similar display against Terence O'Farrell and won by 54 points. Graham Nash completed the first-round matches with a 33-point win over David Ballheimer, including the impressive spot of MICROBES in the final letters round.
The quarter-finals also started slowly with Chris Wills winning over Loz Sands, despite an invalid offering of coagulent ☓ in the first letters game. John Rawnsley beat Rupert Stokoe without looking like losing, despite faltering on the conundrum. The following game was a classic which beat Wills and Williams' highest joint total score. Both Ben Wilson and Tom Hargreaves spotted FACETIOUS in the third round and from then on, Tom scored in every round to rack up 131 points. The second series champion was dispatched from the competition, as Ben Wilson lost his unbeaten record.
The game after that was even more dramatic. Julian Fell and Graham Nash faced off, with both players having won twelve games out of twelve. The game started with a nasty letters selection and in Round 4, Nash tried formica ☓ to fall six points behind. Both players spotted a nine in Round 8 – ORGANISED for Nash and GRANDIOSE for Fell. Fell declared an eight in the next round to Nash's seven, but Fell's offering of gambiers ☓ was duly disallowed to let Nash have a one-point lead. Equal scoring continued for the rest of the game, and the players had a perfect score between them going into Rounds 12 and 13 where they and Dictionary Corner missed ROUILLE and SPERMATID. The game was poised for a crucial conundrum at 110 – 109 in Nash's favour, and Nash buzzed in at 1.5 seconds with the answer of COMMENDED to beat Fell and break his unbeaten record. Chris Wills on his website later, described it as "the best ever game of Countdown".
In the semi-finals, Chris Wills disposed John Rawnsley by scoring 120 points. Wills scored in every round which included the impressive spot of DECAGONAL, but it was Rawnsley that got the conundrum to deny Wills a personal best of 130. The second semi-final was most notable for its disallowed words, as Graham Nash had two and Tom Hargreaves had three. The decisive factor was the seventh round where Hargreaves risked rescaling ☓ to Nash's CLEARINGS which gave Nash a lead that would never be challenged in the game. Nash dispatched with the conundrum of AVIANLOUT to set up a final between two players with fourteen wins from fourteen games.
The final turned out not to be a classic, thanks in large part to two impossible numbers games. Chris Wills initially took the lead with GAMBADE but was beaten in two letters rounds with PENSIVE and METALS. The players scored in every round from there on, but neither of them scored in the last numbers game as zero points was the maximum. After that, the conundrum of OVERSPADE was turned over with Nash having a six-point lead thanks to METALS. But dramatically, the time ran out with neither player buzzing in and Nash won by 79 – 73. Thanks to his success, Nash became the next grand slam winner due to his unbeaten record on the show.
Progress
| Michael Calder (42) vs Loz Sands (46) | Loz Sands vs Chris Wills | Chris Wills vs John Rawnsley |
Chris Wills vs Graham Nash |
| Chris Wills (47) vs David Williams (43) | |||
| Rupert Stokoe (47) vs Grace Page (48) | Rupert Stokoe vs John Rawnsley | ||
| John Rawnsley (45) vs Kevin McMahon (44) | |||
| Ben Wilson (46) vs Geraldine Hylands (45) | Ben Wilson vs Tom Hargreaves | Tom Hargreaves vs Graham Nash | |
| John Rainsden (44) vs Tom Hargreaves (47) | |||
| Julian Fell (48) vs Terence O'Farrell (42) | Julian Fell vs Graham Nash | ||
| David Ballheimer (42) vs Graham Nash (43) |
The numbers refer to the series in which each contestant originally played in the finals.
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3390 | 06/01/2003 | CP | Michael Calder | 60 – 77 | Loz Sands | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Martin Jarvis | Susie Dent | 127 | ||
| 3391 | 07/01/2003 | CP | Chris Wills | 113 – 111 | David Williams | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Martin Jarvis | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
| 3392 | 08/01/2003 | CP | Rupert Stokoe | 90 – 80 | Grace Page | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Martin Jarvis | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
| 3393 | 09/01/2003 | CP | John Rawnsley | 99 – 97 | Kevin McMahon | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Martin Jarvis | Susie Dent | 141 | ||
| 3394 | 10/01/2003 | CP | Ben Wilson | 94 – 91 | Geraldine Hylands | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Martin Jarvis | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 3395 | 13/01/2003 | CP | John Rainsden | 65 – 117 | Tom Hargreaves | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 3396 | 14/01/2003 | CP | Julian Fell | 118 – 64 | Terence O'Farrell | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 130 | ||
| 3397 | 15/01/2003 | CP | David Ballheimer | 70 – 103 | Graham Nash | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
| 3398 | 16/01/2003 | CQF | Chris Wills | 98 – 69 | Loz Sands | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 3399 | 17/01/2003 | CQF | Rupert Stokoe | 70 – 89 | John Rawnsley | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
| 3400 | 20/01/2003 | CQF | Tom Hargreaves | 131 – 98 | Ben Wilson | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Eric Knowles | Susie Dent | 144 | ||
| 3401 | 21/01/2003 | CQF | Graham Nash | 120 – 109 | Julian Fell | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Eric Knowles | Susie Dent | 137 | ||
| 3402 | 22/01/2003 | CSF | Chris Wills | 120 – 88 | John Rawnsley | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Eric Knowles | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 3403 | 23/01/2003 | CSF | Tom Hargreaves | 83 – 104 | Graham Nash | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Eric Knowles | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 3404 | 24/01/2003 | CGF | Chris Wills | 73 – 79 | Graham Nash | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Eric Knowles | Susie Dent | 106 | ||
