Bhavin Manek

Bhavin Manek Octochamp Statistics
Final position	Semi-finalist
Seeding	1
Points total	448
Conundrums solved	6

Bhavin Manek was a semi-finalist from Series 36.

At the age of just 16, he won the final eight heats of the series to become an octochamp and #1 seed, facing just one crucial conundrum along the way, in his sixth appearance against Gwen Town in Episode 2093. Notably, Manek took the #1 seed spot only by solving the conundrum in the series' last heat game; had he missed it, he would have finished #2 to Maria Boyes, making Series 36 the only one in Countdown's history in which the finals fixtures were not determined until after the heats had fully ended (Jonathan Rawlinson and some others had already won their final games prior to the conundrums).

Manek beat Roger Green in the quarter-finals the day after his heats run ended, but lost to eventual series champion Tony Baylis in the semis. Bhavin returned for Championship of Champions IX, where he beat Dag Griffiths in the first round before losing to Ruth Collier in the quarter-final.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
2088	8/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	59 – 36	Malcolm Fairy	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	Alyson McGaw	73
2089	9/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	59 – 22	David Walters	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	Alyson McGaw	81
2090	10/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	59 – 17	Ann Mead	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	Alyson McGaw	71
2091	11/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	51 – 39	Alf Berry	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	Alyson McGaw	72
2092	12/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	58 – 31	Clive Scott	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Stilgoe	Hannah Robertson	68
2093	15/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	47 – 31	Gwen Town	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Stilgoe	Hannah Robertson	69
2094	16/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	55 – 19	Nick Jenkins	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Stilgoe	Hannah Robertson	67
2095	17/09/1997	P	Bhavin Manek	60 – 21	Ken Hunt	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Stilgoe	Hannah Robertson	84
2096	18/09/1997	QF	Bhavin Manek	37 – 22	Roger Green	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Stilgoe	Hannah Robertson	68
2100	24/09/1997	SF	Tony Baylis	53 – 43	Bhavin Manek	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Nicholas Parsons	Hannah Robertson	84
2170	7/01/1998	CP	Dag Griffiths	44 – 67	Bhavin Manek	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Mark Nyman	72
2174	13/01/1998	CQF	Ruth Collier	54 – 44	Bhavin Manek	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Mark Nyman	74