Shikhar contestants during the quiz at DAV, BSEB, in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Cricket enthusiasts in the city are already thinking of India’s chances Down Under from next month but on Tuesday, Australia’s capital city stumped many a quiz enthusiasts.

One of the teams at The Telegraph Udaan was asked the direct question: What is the capital of Australia? The answer came Melbourne. Oops, that’s wrong! Melbourne might be one of the larger cities of Australia but the country’s capital is Canberra.

Udaan and Shikhar, the inter-school competitions organised by The Telegraph, was in its penultimate day. On the roster were the creative writing and quiz rounds. At least 250 schools took part in the two events held at DAV, BSEB.

Questions left the contestants racking their brains and thoughts materialised on paper. Close to 150 students took part in Udaan and Shikhar’s creative writing competition. They had an hour to write 300 words on their topics.

The topic for Udaan (classes VI-VIII) was “A fun day for me is like…”, while the Shikhar contestants (classes IX-XII) had to write on “Bihar in 2050 will be like…”.

Sanskriti, a Class IX student of Litera Valley School, wished for a Bihar free of corruption and crime. “It felt really good to express my feelings. Creative writing is all about weaving words.” Young Alok Thakur, a Class VIII student of St Dominic Savio’s High School, chose to write on his birthday — a fun day for any child.

Choosing their doorway to the quiz final, the three-member Udaan and Shikhar teams gave it their best. History to mathematics; Bollywood to Oscars — the event had it all. High court lawyer Anshuman Singh fired the questions at the contestants. One of the questions in Shikhar was: Who won best actor at the 59th Filmfare Awards? Farhan Akhtar. Right! The quizzes were divided into four rounds — direct, multiple choice, visual and buzzer.

Shabeel, a Class XI student of St Michael’s, took a sigh of relief when his team made it to the finale. Giving his school a fight on Wednesday would be DAV BSEB, Loyola High School and Litera Valley School (the host for the finale). Open Minds, DAV BSEB, St Dominic Savio’s School and DAV Khagaul made it to the Udaan final.

Litera Valley principal Jai Prakash said: “Events like this one not only brings out the best in students but also brings together so many schools.”