Nkumba University's advancement to the semi-final stage of the Celtel Africa Challenge has increased our chances of winning this year's title. Nkumba had the ultimate challenge round to thank for its win over Tanzania's Sokoine University last Sunday.

Sokoine had for the most part commanded a slight lead over Nkumba in the first and second round with a 40-point lead over Nkumba (110-70) in the first round and a 10-point lead (150- 140) at the end of the second round.

Both teams mostly played a tit-for-tat game here with either university taking control of the category the other had chosen.

There was a broad range of subjects to choose from the categories quizmaster John Sibi-Okumu threw at both teams this time, like "A Career in Music", "Begins With Cal-" and "50 Years Ago".

Questions like naming Che Guevara as the guerrilla leader who assisted Castro in effecting the Cuban revolution but faced a much worse time in 1965 in a failed revolution in DR Congo did not require much thinking through.

A fair knowledge of Greek mythology came in handy for questions like who the mythic sisters that could turn men into stone (Gorgons) were, the animals that took the place of a Gorgon's hair (snakes) and the Greek goddess of war and justice that carried a Gorgon's head on her shield (Athina).

A third round upset put Nkumba in the lead but with just a 10-point lead over Sokoine (250- 240), only a clever choice of category, one in which points would be racked up easily and fast was Nkumba's only hope.

Luckily for them, Sokoine stumbled in choosing the seemingly easy "Which Colour" category that only got them 100 extra points from just two correct answers. Honestly, how many people know that "Cardinal Red" is the colour associated with men of the cloth?

Nkumba gambled on the "Neighbouring Countries" category and only failed two questions; naming Turkey as the country that has Bulgaria, Syria and Armenia as neighbours and Zambia as the nation bordering Mozambique, Namibia and the DRC.

With eight correct answers yielding an additional 400 points, Nkumba had a clear lead over Sokoine having earned a 650 point tally over the latter's 340 points. Kenyatta University plays Egerton University in an all-Kenyan first semi-final tomorrow at 7.30p.m. on UBC TV.