View source for Conor Travers

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{{octostats|'''Champion'''|1|890|7}}
[[Image:ConorTravers.png|thumb|Conor Travers in [[Episode 3984|December 2005]].]]
[[Image:Conor Travers 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Conor Travers]] showing off the [[Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy]] after winning [[Series 54]].]]
[[Image:CTC25.jpg|thumb|Conor Travers in the [[Episode 4473|25th Anniversary Episode]].]]
[[File:Conor Travers.png|thumb|200px|right|Conor Travers in the [[30th Birthday Championship]].]]
'''Conor Travers''' was an [[octochamp]] in and the [[Series Winners|champion]] of [[Series 54]], a semi-finalist in [[Championship of Champions XII]] and the champion of the [[30th Birthday Championship]]. He is the youngest ever series champion, having won at the age of 14, and is one of the most popular and talented [[contestant]]s in the show's history. He has achieved three [[max game]]s, the only contestant who is known to have done so. As well as being one of the most experienced [[Apterous|Apterite]]s and tournament players, Travers has competed in 22 games of ''[[Countdown]]'', sharing the record with [[Fiona Wood]], but has outright played more televised rounds than anybody else with with 327, 12 more than second-placed [[Zarte Siempre]].

==Appearances on the programme==
===Series 54===
Travers was originally planned to make his début in the first episode of Series 54, but due to illness his appearance was pushed back by several days and he instead began his run on [[Episode 3977|23 November 2005]] against [[Ray Oakley]]. He won his first game with a score of 99 after solving the [[conundrum]] in half a second, followed by 111 against [[John Archer]] and 99 against [[Geoff Alderman]]. His remaining 5 games were all [[century|centuries]], with a top score of 124 and a low score of 111. During his run he beat future [[Series 73]] finalist [[Judy Bursford]]. His octochamp total was 890. He was the first octochamp under [[Des Lynam]]'s tenure as presenter.

===Finals===
Travers returned to ''Countdown'' in May 2006 as the No. 1 seed. He beat [[Daniel Peake]] by 69 points in the [[Episode 4106|quarter-final]], [[Paul Howe]] by 24 points in the [[Episode 4110|semi-final]] before meeting [[Matthew Shore]] in the [[Episode 4112|Grand Final]]. Travers won {{score|98|83}} to become the youngest-ever series champion at 14 years old, a record which cannot be broken due to an over-16s only rule enforced from [[Series 64]]. He also set the record for winning the longest series at the time (153 shows) as the series started the previous year due to the death of [[Richard Whiteley]], which delayed the start of the series being filmed. Travers was the first of two champions to be crowned with [[Des Lynam]] as presenter, the other being [[Richard Brittain]].

===Championship of Champions XII===
One week later, he returned for [[Championship of Champions XII|CofC XII]] beating [[John Hunt (Series 52)|John Hunt]] and [[John Brackstone]] in the first two rounds. Considered one of the favourites after his 890 aggregate as an octochamp (the second highest ever at the time), he lost {{score|118|102}} to the eventual winner [[Paul Gallen]] in the [[Episode 4126|semi-final]] on the crucial conundrum {{word|CHOPLOSER}}. In his 14 games, Travers' lowest score was 98 and his average was 110.4 points per game.

===25th Anniversary Special===
Since losing to Paul Gallen, Travers appeared on ''[[Countdown]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Episode 4473|25th anniversary special]] against [[Chris Wills]], playing a to slightly shorter round format with celebrities selecting the letters and numbers, and won the game {{score|69|58}}. He then started playing ''Countdown'' online again and spent some time in the No. 1 position on [[Apterous]], while also setting the then highest ever score of {{Apterous|URL=62408|161|133}} in an [[15 round format (old)|old 15 Rounder]] against [[Andrew Hulme]].

===30th Birthday Championship===
Travers returned to ''Countdown'' again in 2013, as one of 41 contestants taking part in the [[30th Birthday Championship]]. There he proved to have lost none of his edge, and overcame a field of strong contestants. He won his [[Episode 5618|first match]] against [[Series 46]] champion [[Ben Wilson]] despite falling 6 points behind early in the match, then maxed 14 rounds in his [[Episode 5637|second match]] to beat [[Series 52]] champion [[Mark Tournoff]]. His [[Episode 5642|third match]] saw him go one better, as he scored a [[max game|perfect]] 119 against [[Series 28]] quarter-finalist and [[Scrabble]] expert [[Chris Hawkins]]. He then defeated the [[Series 60]] champion [[Kirk Bevins]] in the [[Episode 5650|quarter-final]], again scoring a [[max game|perfect]] 119 points. He then took on the [[Series 53]] semi-finalist [[Jon O'Neill]] in the [[Episode 5653|semi-final]], being held in place for all the game, before eventually breaking clear by solving the conundrum {{word|INFIGHTER}} to achieve a 3rd consecutive [[max game]], this time with 120 points. Travers has currently more max games than any other contestant on ''Countdown''.

The [[Episode 5654|Grand Final]] of the championships took place on 1 March 2013, when Travers played the [[Series 63]] champion [[Jack Hurst]]. Travers took an early lead in round 3, when he spotted the nine {{word|PONYTAILS}}, and the only points he dropped from thereon were the 3 for not reaching the target in the first [[numbers game]], bringing his incredible run of maximums of 58 to an end. Hurst's challenge ended when he missed {{word|POMADES}} in round 13, leaving Travers to max the final 2 rounds to equal the then-highest ever score in the show's history with 146, a feat achieved by [[Julian Fell]] over a decade earlier in the [[Series 48]] [[Episode 3387|semi-final]]. In the presentation, he was awarded the winner's trophy by [[Marcel Stellman]].

Over the course of his six games in the tournament, he scored an incredible and unprecedented 86 out of 90 round-by-round maximums, including an unfinished streak of 51 consecutive letters maxes. He missed three [[letters game]]s (two against [[Ben Wilson]] and one against [[Mark Tournoff]]), as well as the first numbers game in the final.

Travers held the record for highest total score in any number of appearances prior to [[Zarte Siempre]], with a hoard of 2,348 cumulative points in 21 appearances. However, [[Jon Richardson]] claims to have broken this record over several series of ''[[8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown]]'', following [[Episode Cats29|a game]] where he scored 890 due to a conundrum worth 843 points.

===2020 Special Episode===
Travers returned to ''Countdown'' once more on [[Episode S49|23 December 2020]], seven years after winning the [[30th Birthday Championship]], for a festive [[special episode]] against [[Jack Worsley]]. He continued his letters streak, and thus has not missed a single maximum in the last 61 letters rounds. He maxed every round in the game apart from the conundrum {{word|URINALAIM}}, which neither player attempted, but won the game {{score|118|110}} and became the first player ever to win 21 games on the show.

==Co-events==
Travers is still interested in ''Countdown'', and regularly participates in unofficial [[Co-event|''Countdown'' tournaments]]. He attended the very first tournament, [[COLIN 2005]], followed by [[COLIN 2006]], [[CoBris 2006]] and [[CoLei3]]. He won [[COLIN 2008]] and [[CoBris 2005]], and came 2nd in [[CoBris 2007]]. He finished runner-up in [[COLIN XIII|COLIN 2017]] where he was beaten in a crucial conundrum by fellow [[Apterous|Apterite]] [[Dylan Taylor]].

==Appearances on [[ZoomDown]]==
===[[ZoomDown Series 1|Series 1]]===
On 29 June 2020, Travers appeared on the first series of ZoomDown, which was created during national lockdown that was imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He played against [[Graeme Cole]] and pulled off an impressive win and 13 maxes to start his run. Battles against [[Jack Hurst]] - in what would be a 30th Birthday Champ rematch - and [[Tom Chafer-Cook]] earned him two more centuries. However his run came to an end when [[Callum Todd]] beat Conor to the conundrum, despite a six-point lead and Conor being on a max game.

However, Conor still racked up more points than any other tetrachamp in the series: 466 across 3 games. This had him take the #4 seed and be back for the finals.

Conor made fair business with [[Ian Volante]] and left the scoreline with {{score|120|88}}. Then in the semi-final, he had faced another Countdown great: [[Elliott Mellor]]. The two had matched each other in the first two rounds, however a six-small solve from Mellor gave him the 10-point advantage. The two had then matched each other in every round, leaving the scoreline {{score|113|103}} before the conundrum. Luckily Conor made quick business and unraveled {{word|PRECISIAN}} in 1.5 seconds, which then tied the game up. Conor then turned {{word|THIRTYSEC}} into {{word|STITCHERY}} which granted him access to the grand final against [[Jonathan Wynn]].

In the final, both players matched each other in the first 9 rounds. Connor then built up a 16-point lead with {{word|BONNETED}} and {{word|PLATINUM}}. Unluckily, he had been disallowed {{word|miniped {{x}}}} whilst Jonathan closed the gap with {{word|FEMINIE}}; a cruical conundrum was then forced. With Conor solving it with the word {{word|TRANSMUTE}} and in one second, he was declared the first champion of ZoomDown.

===[[ZoomDown Championship of Champions]]===
He was invited back for the ZoomDown Championship of Champions over two years later. He faced [[Ronan Higginson]] and showed no signs of slowing down as he won {{score|125|86}} and only missed out on a 7-point numbers game.

He then faced up against Series 3 runner-up, [[Tom Cappleman]]. Despite being beat on the first number game, Travers bit back by playing {{word|NAEVOID}} and bit harder with the nine {{word|SLOGANEER}}. He progressed forward after a very tense {{score|116|91}}.

He then faced the wild card in the tournament, [[Luke Johnson-Davies]], and kept up a very good game. Despite another numbers game going unsolved by either player, Conor achieved another 14-max game with a score of {{score|114|90}}.

He then stepped into [[Episode ZD134|the final]] with a familiar face, Elliott Mellor. Both players matched each other on almost every single round. The only exceptions were when Conor found {{word|GALEATED}} and when Elliott got a one-away solve on a 6-small. With a one-gap between both players in favor of Travers, Conor quickly turned {{word|THINGEESS}} into {{word|SIGHTSEEN}}, ending the close game and crowning Conor the winner of the Championship of Champions. He also managed to keep his streak of scoring a century in every single game, and has racked up 1,313 points throughout his run.

Combined with the 2,466 points from his onscreen appearances, Conor has accumulated 3,779 points over 30 games and still has only lost two games (once on TV, and once on ZoomDown) 


{{series winner|preceded_by=John Mayhew|series=54|followed_by=Richard Brittain}}
{{series winner 2|preceded_by=Paul James|series=30th Birthday Championship|followed_by=Giles Hutchings}}

==Episodes==
{{episode table}} 
{{ep | 3977 | 23/11/2005 | P |[[Ray Oakley]]| 58 – 99 |Conor Travers|[[Jan Ravens]]|[[Susie Dent]]|114}}
{{ep | 3978 | 24/11/2005 | P |Conor Travers| 111 – 35 |[[John Archer]]|Jan Ravens|Susie Dent|134}}
{{ep | 3979 | 25/11/2005 | P |Conor Travers| 99 – 58 |[[Geoff Alderman]]|Jan Ravens|Susie Dent|122}}
{{ep | 3980 | 28/11/2005 | P |Conor Travers| 114 – 57 |[[Jane Capie]]|Jan Ravens|Susie Dent|131}}
{{ep | 3981 | 29/11/2005 | P |Conor Travers| 111 – 53 |[[Steven Whitaker]]|[[Rick Wakeman]]|Susie Dent|129}}
{{ep | 3982 | 30/11/2005 | P |Conor Travers| 124 – 69 |[[Andy Christley|Andrew Christley]]|Rick Wakeman|Susie Dent|139}}
{{ep | 3983 | 1/12/2005 | P |Conor Travers| 115 – 53 |[[Judy Bursford]]|Rick Wakeman|Susie Dent|124}}
{{ep | 3984 | 2/12/2005 | P |Conor Travers| 117 – 61 |[[Vicky Prime]]|Rick Wakeman|Susie Dent|128}}
{{ep | 4106 | 18/05/2006 | QF |[[Daniel Peake]]| 38 – 107 |Conor Travers|[[Richard Digance]]|Susie Dent|130}}
{{ep | 4110 | 24/05/2006 | SF |Conor Travers| 124 – 100 |[[Paul Howe]]|Richard Digance|Susie Dent|130}}
{{ep | 4112 | 26/05/2006 | GF |Conor Travers| 98 – 83 |[[Matthew Shore]]|Richard Digance|Susie Dent|118}}
{{ep | 4115 | 31/05/2006 | CP |Conor Travers| 124 – 91 |[[John Hunt (Series 52)|John Hunt]]|[[Ron Atkinson]]|Susie Dent|138}}
{{ep | 4123 | 12/06/2006 | CQF |Conor Travers| 101 – 80 |[[John Brackstone]]|[[Kim Woodburn]]|Susie Dent|130}}
{{ep | 4126 | 15/06/2006 | CSF |[[Paul Gallen]]| 118 – 102 |Conor Travers|Kim Woodburn|Susie Dent|120}}
{{ep | 4473 | 2/11/2007 | S |[[Chris Wills]]| 58 – 69 |Conor Travers|none|[[Alison Heard]]|110}}
{{ep | 5618 | 10/01/2013 | 30BP |[[Ben Wilson]]| 91 - 117 |Conor Travers|[[Dave Myers]]|Susie Dent|126}}
{{ep | 5637 | 6/02/2013 | 30B1 |Conor Travers| 112 - 62 |[[Mark Tournoff]]|[[Kate Adie]]|Susie Dent|119}}
{{ep | 5642 | 13/02/2013 | 30B2 |[[Chris Hawkins]]| 85 - '''119''' |'''Conor Travers'''|[[Ken Bruce]]|Susie Dent|'''119'''}}
{{ep | 5650 | 25/02/2013 | 30BQF |'''Conor Travers'''| '''119''' - 94 |[[Kirk Bevins]]|[[Jenny Eclair]]|Susie Dent|'''119'''}}
{{ep | 5653 | 28/02/2013 | 30BSF |[[Jon O'Neill]]| 102 - '''120''' |'''Conor Travers'''|Jenny Eclair|Susie Dent|'''120'''}}
{{ep | 5654 | 1/03/2013 | 30BGF |[[Jack Hurst]]| 111 - 146 |Conor Travers|Jenny Eclair|Susie Dent|149}}
{{ep | S49 | 23/12/2020 | S |Conor Travers| 118 - 110 |[[Jack Worsley]]|[[Rory Bremner]]|Susie Dent|128}}
{{episode table end}}

==External Links==
{{WP}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, Conor}}
[[Category:Finalists]]
[[Category:Series winners]]
[[Category:Octochamps of the 15 round era]]
[[Category:Contestants in Series 54]]
[[Category:Contestants in the 30th Birthday Championship]]
[[Category:Contestants in Championship of Champions XII]]
[[Category:Prodigies]]
[[Category:Teapot owners]]
[[Category:Tournament winners]]
[[Category:Contestants on ZoomDown]]