Rounds: Here.
It's the fifth night for Kannan Sethuraman, and a good performance here might see him into the finals. Richard returns to the topic of Kannan's work, noting that Kannan does some very important practical consultative work; for example, with hospitals, to try and make them more efficient. He asks how that works. Kannan gives an example: 60% of operating theatre sessions are typically delayed. So what they do is try to answer the questions: Where are the bottlenecks? Why do they get delayed? How can we ensure that they start on time, and that more patients can be treated in a given period of time?
Tonight's challenger is Luke Warden, operations manager at a bowling club, who has just completed a diploma of hospitality. Luke was also lead singer in a band called TidalBridge, that was around from 2006 to 2008; during that time they wrote twelve or thirteen original songs. Some of those songs they uploaded to a national youth radio network's unsigned internet site, as a result of which they got national exposure and a couple of songs made it into the national charts. The band members are still in contact, and occasionally get together for a jam and to write some new material.
(I can't find full details on that at the moment, but Luke's page on ArtistTrove says that they had songs at numbers 6 and 7 on the October 2007 JJJ Unearthed Pop chart. My guess would be that the songs in question were This Town and Don't Mind Me; both can be listened to here.)
The contestants started off with matched words in round one, then a surprisingly short answer from Luke in round two saw Kannan take the lead. An easy numbers round followed, then the middle third was all Luke -- he scored 24 unanswered points to be a daunting 18 points ahead at the second break. Kannan risked it all in round seven, chancing a nine in the hopes of levelling the scores; it was not valid, and that gave Luke a winning margin. Kannan added to his score in the last numbers game; neither was able to solve the conundrum, resulting in a final scoreline of 47 to 29 in Luke's favour.
Showing posts with label Kannan Sethuraman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kannan Sethuraman. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 August 2016
Monday, 1 August 2016
Ep 145: Kannan Sethuraman, Matt Pitcher (July 29, 2016; originally aired February 18, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
It's the important fourth night for Kannan; a win here will give him a chance of making the finals. Alas, Richard wheels out the question about technique; this time he also asks specifically about Kannan's choice of two large numbers in the numbers rounds. Kannan responds that he thinks it gives you a better ability to manipulate the numbers and get to the target, and adds that three large numbers are too hard for him. He's right about this -- the two large mix is the most solvable of all, by a narrow margin over the single large number. I'd still recommend a single large number for people, though, as the clarity of having only a single large number can make it easier to get in the right vicinity.
Tonight's challenger is Matt Pitcher, a pharmacist whose dream is to one day become an acclaimed independent filmmaker. When asked by Richard, Matt admits that he has not done much in the way of film work yet, but he is in the process of writing his first screenplay. He says that he has connections who may be able to assist him, and he is hoping to get that into a short film festival. In response to Richard's question about genre (strangely limited to "mystery or horror"), Matt gives a fairly noncommital "all of the above".
(I haven't had much success tracking down information about that, but you can see a video of his here.)
Kannan started out with an excellent word in the first round, and then followed that up with four more scoring rounds. Matt was only able to match him in round two, and it was shaping up that the game would be decided before the second break. But an arithmetic error from Kannan in round six kept Matt in the game for one more round. The final letters were a frugal mix, and Matt was unable to outdo Kannan as he needed to. The final numbers round was too hard for anyone (except Lily!) to get close; Matt managed to solve the conundrum, but Kannan was a decisive winner, 41 to 29.
It's the important fourth night for Kannan; a win here will give him a chance of making the finals. Alas, Richard wheels out the question about technique; this time he also asks specifically about Kannan's choice of two large numbers in the numbers rounds. Kannan responds that he thinks it gives you a better ability to manipulate the numbers and get to the target, and adds that three large numbers are too hard for him. He's right about this -- the two large mix is the most solvable of all, by a narrow margin over the single large number. I'd still recommend a single large number for people, though, as the clarity of having only a single large number can make it easier to get in the right vicinity.
Tonight's challenger is Matt Pitcher, a pharmacist whose dream is to one day become an acclaimed independent filmmaker. When asked by Richard, Matt admits that he has not done much in the way of film work yet, but he is in the process of writing his first screenplay. He says that he has connections who may be able to assist him, and he is hoping to get that into a short film festival. In response to Richard's question about genre (strangely limited to "mystery or horror"), Matt gives a fairly noncommital "all of the above".
(I haven't had much success tracking down information about that, but you can see a video of his here.)
Kannan started out with an excellent word in the first round, and then followed that up with four more scoring rounds. Matt was only able to match him in round two, and it was shaping up that the game would be decided before the second break. But an arithmetic error from Kannan in round six kept Matt in the game for one more round. The final letters were a frugal mix, and Matt was unable to outdo Kannan as he needed to. The final numbers round was too hard for anyone (except Lily!) to get close; Matt managed to solve the conundrum, but Kannan was a decisive winner, 41 to 29.
Ep 144: Kannan Sethuraman, Mali Konda (July 28, 2016; originally aired February 17, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
It's the third night for Kannan Sethuraman, and Richard turns the topic to Kannan's academic journey. Kannan relates that he finished his MBA in India, then went to Wharton for his PhD; that is part of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. After finishing his PhD in operations management, Kannan worked in Michigan for around six years, returned briefly to India, then joined the Melbourne Business School in 2001.
Tonight's challenger is Mali Konda, a senior analyst in the banking sector. Richard slightly obliquely says that Mali has skills in working with blind people, and leads her to describe how that came about. Mali was waiting for the bus one day, and a blind student asked her what she was studying. After she answered (we never find out what it was), he asked if she would be able to help him read his books. Mali was willing, and after a while all the blind students ended up joining in, and her whole family got involved in helping the blind. Mali has since learned braille.
The contestants started out with a tied first round, then Kannan took a modest lead in round two. The first numbers round was too hard for both of them, but thereafter it was all Kannan. He picked up twenty points in the middle third of the game, and Mali needed to find a full monty in the last letters round to have a chance. She could not, and that was game to Kannan. He moved further ahead in the last numbers round; neither contestant could solve the conundrum, so Kannan got his third win, 45 to 13.
It's the third night for Kannan Sethuraman, and Richard turns the topic to Kannan's academic journey. Kannan relates that he finished his MBA in India, then went to Wharton for his PhD; that is part of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. After finishing his PhD in operations management, Kannan worked in Michigan for around six years, returned briefly to India, then joined the Melbourne Business School in 2001.
Tonight's challenger is Mali Konda, a senior analyst in the banking sector. Richard slightly obliquely says that Mali has skills in working with blind people, and leads her to describe how that came about. Mali was waiting for the bus one day, and a blind student asked her what she was studying. After she answered (we never find out what it was), he asked if she would be able to help him read his books. Mali was willing, and after a while all the blind students ended up joining in, and her whole family got involved in helping the blind. Mali has since learned braille.
The contestants started out with a tied first round, then Kannan took a modest lead in round two. The first numbers round was too hard for both of them, but thereafter it was all Kannan. He picked up twenty points in the middle third of the game, and Mali needed to find a full monty in the last letters round to have a chance. She could not, and that was game to Kannan. He moved further ahead in the last numbers round; neither contestant could solve the conundrum, so Kannan got his third win, 45 to 13.
Ep 143: Kannan Sethuraman, Cameron Ling (July 27, 2016; originally aired February 16, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Kannan Sethuraman gets his turn in the champion's seat, and the topic turns again to his son -- Richard asks whether Kannan compared his results with Anand after the previous game. Kannan says that he did, and they both did well.
Tonight's challenger is Cameron Ling, a budding novelist who teaches English as a second language. Cameron teaches in a school for new migrant children, so it is kids that have just arrived in Australia; the school tries to get them ready for mainstream schooling here.
Kanna found a good word in round one to take the early lead, then the next four rounds were shared. Round six proved to be significant, with Cameron's invalid answer giving points to Kannan again, and the final numbers round also went Kannan's way. That gave him a winning lead going into the conundrum; neither could solve it, so Kannan won 53 to 32.
Kannan Sethuraman gets his turn in the champion's seat, and the topic turns again to his son -- Richard asks whether Kannan compared his results with Anand after the previous game. Kannan says that he did, and they both did well.
Tonight's challenger is Cameron Ling, a budding novelist who teaches English as a second language. Cameron teaches in a school for new migrant children, so it is kids that have just arrived in Australia; the school tries to get them ready for mainstream schooling here.
Kanna found a good word in round one to take the early lead, then the next four rounds were shared. Round six proved to be significant, with Cameron's invalid answer giving points to Kannan again, and the final numbers round also went Kannan's way. That gave him a winning lead going into the conundrum; neither could solve it, so Kannan won 53 to 32.
Ep 142: Brian Morgan, Kannan Sethuraman (July 26, 2016; originally aired February 15, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
On Brian Morgan's third night, Richard notes that Brian has travelled quite widely, and asks if he has any traveller's tips. Brian says that he has just come back from Vietnam (as mentioned earlier), and he thought it was wonderful, as were the people, and everything was very cheap.
Tonight's challenger is Kannan Sethuraman, an associate professor with a PhD in operations management. Richard tantalises that there is an interesting story behind how Kannan came to be on the show tonight, and then throws to Kannan. Kannan explains that he actually wanted to find out whether his son (Anand Bharadwaj, an avid Scrabble player) could participate on the show, but it turned out that Anand was not old enough -- he is ten, and contestants are required to be at least sixteen years old. That said, Anand had quite the background already, being the youngest player to compete for Australia in the World Youth Scrabble Championship (his first time being in 2009, I think); he went on to win the 2011 WYSC.
Brian was the first to find an advantage, outscoring Kannan in the second round to get a decent lead. Kannan struck back immediately with the first numbers round to overtake Brian, only for Brian to retake the lead again in round five. The second numbers round was too easy, and another letters win saw Brian extend his lead to nine points. But Kannan continued his good performance on the numbers to inflict another reversal and headed into the conundrum a single point ahead. Neither contestant was able to solve the conundrum, so that single point gave Kannan the win, 42 to 41.
On Brian Morgan's third night, Richard notes that Brian has travelled quite widely, and asks if he has any traveller's tips. Brian says that he has just come back from Vietnam (as mentioned earlier), and he thought it was wonderful, as were the people, and everything was very cheap.
Tonight's challenger is Kannan Sethuraman, an associate professor with a PhD in operations management. Richard tantalises that there is an interesting story behind how Kannan came to be on the show tonight, and then throws to Kannan. Kannan explains that he actually wanted to find out whether his son (Anand Bharadwaj, an avid Scrabble player) could participate on the show, but it turned out that Anand was not old enough -- he is ten, and contestants are required to be at least sixteen years old. That said, Anand had quite the background already, being the youngest player to compete for Australia in the World Youth Scrabble Championship (his first time being in 2009, I think); he went on to win the 2011 WYSC.
Brian was the first to find an advantage, outscoring Kannan in the second round to get a decent lead. Kannan struck back immediately with the first numbers round to overtake Brian, only for Brian to retake the lead again in round five. The second numbers round was too easy, and another letters win saw Brian extend his lead to nine points. But Kannan continued his good performance on the numbers to inflict another reversal and headed into the conundrum a single point ahead. Neither contestant was able to solve the conundrum, so that single point gave Kannan the win, 42 to 41.
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