It was a debut as far as Lucknow was concerned. The air was full of anticipation. It was truly cute to see teams preparing from Year Books and Encyclopedia's before the quiz unfolded.

For a first year the turnout was massive. Close to 200 teams and the organizers had to cut short the registration process and just let the teams into the venue to ensure they could start on time.

There was a thunderous applause as quizmaster Pickbrain took command and unfolded Crucible in his own inimitable style. In awe, Lucknow witnessed the nation's biggest business quiz unfold in front of their eyes. The prelim was good, a shade simpler than the other cities is what a seasoned quizzer would say.

The wild card round was quick and it was time to have the first six finalists in the history of Crucible Lucknow take stage. They were:

Amity University (Asim and Arpita)
University of Lucknow (Abhineet and Smriti)
IIM Lucknow (Rajarishi and Rajat)
IET (Naveen and Abhay)
IIM Lucknow (Pratik and Sudarshan)
IIT Kanpur (Rohit and Ishan)

The final was a lovely entertainer with Lucknow enjoying every moment of the quiz. The team from IIM Lucknow (Pratik and Sudarshan) dominated right through to make it to the national final while a closely fought tie breaker resulted in Amity University (Asim and Arpita) being the runner's up.

Pickbrain, was all praise for the Lucknow crowd and said he looked forward to being back in 2009 and was sure given the high turnout the event would happen here annually.

All in all, it was a great beginning for Lucknow in its journey through the world of business quizzing.

Results

• Winner: IIM Lucknow (Pratik and Sudarshan)
• Runner Up: Amity University (Asim and Arpita)