European Quizzing Championships

The European Quizzing Championships (EQC) are an annual multi-disciplinary quiz event, in which representatives from various countries compete as individuals, in pairs, and/or in teams (club or national).

As most of the top players in the world are Europeans,^[1] the EQC are almost on a par with the WQC. The playing environment differs drastically, though, as the EQC is played in one place only, in English only (WQC is played in the language of each country) and has several competitions with more than one player (pairs, national teams - for four players, and clubs - also four players).

The 2010 event attracted media attention from BBC Radio Derby ^[2] and was the subject also of a BBC Radio 4 documentary presented by the comedian, and quiz enthusiast, Paul Sinha.^[3] The 2006 event in Paris was also the subject of a well received Channel 4 documentary 'Quizzers' by the director Paul Whittaker, shown in the UK as part of the series 'New Shoots'.^[4]^[5]

Individual champions

England's Kevin Ashman and Olav Bjortomt are the most successful candidates with six and three individual European titles, respectively. Belgian Nico Pattyn ^[6] upset all the locals in 2007 in Blackpool, to become the first Belgian to win the trophy. In 2012, Germany's Holger Waldenberger won with last question on musician Dr. John, while trailing by one point from Igor Habal.

Year	Venue	Winner	Runner Up	Third Place
2004	Ghent	Kevin Ashman	Nico Pattyn	Pat Gibson
2005	Tallinn	Kevin Ashman	Indrek Salis	Pat Gibson
2006	Paris	Kevin Ashman	Mark Bytheway	Lieven Van den Brande
2007	Blackpool	Nico Pattyn	Lieven Van den Brande	Pat Gibson
2008	Oslo	Kevin Ashman	Pat Gibson	Olav Bjortomt
2009	Dordrecht	Kevin Ashman	Olav Bjortomt	Pat Gibson
2010	Derby	Olav Bjortomt	Tero Kalliolevo	Pat Gibson
2011	Bruges	Kevin Ashman	Pat Gibson	Olav Bjortomt
2012	Tartu	Holger Waldenberger	Igor Habal	Olav Bjortomt
2013	Liverpool	Ronny Swiggers	Nico Pattyn	Jesse Honey
2014	Bucharest	Olav Bjortomt	Kevin Ashman	Tero Kalliolevo
2015	Rotterdam	Olav Bjortomt	Ronny Swiggers	Pat Gibson
2016	Athens

Pairs champions

Introduced in 2005, Belgian and English or Anglo-Irish pairs have dominated this event.

Year	Venue	Winners	Runners Up	Third Place
2005	Tallinn	Ian Bayley/Pat Gibson	Marnix Baes/Bart Permentier	Nico Pattyn/Paul Arts
2006	Paris	Paul Arts/Marc Van Springel	Mark Bytheway/Kevin Ashman	Keith Andrew/ Sean O'Neill
2007	Blackpool	Erik Derycke/Tom Trogh	Albert November/Ronny Swiggers and Jussi Suvanto/Tero Kalliolevo
2008	Oslo	Albert November/Ronny Swiggers	David Stainer/Olav Bjortomt	Mark Bytheway/Kevin Ashman
2009	Dordrecht	David Stainer/Olav Bjortomt	Ian Bayley/Pat Gibson	Mark Bytheway/Kevin Ashman
2010	Derby	Kevin Ashman/Pat Gibson	Tero Kalliolevo/Jussi Suvanto	David Stainer/Olav Bjortomt
2011	Bruges	Kevin Ashman/Pat Gibson	Erik Derycke/Tom Trogh	David Stainer/Olav Bjortomt
2012	Tartu	Kevin Ashman/Pat Gibson	Tero Kalliolevo/Jussi Suvanto	Holger Waldenberger/ Dorjana Širola
2013	Liverpool	Kevin Ashman/Pat Gibson	Olav Bjortomt/David Stainer	Tero Kalliolevo/Jussi Suvanto
2014	Bucharest	Tero Kalliolevo/ Ronny Swiggers	Kevin Ashman/Pat Gibson	Olav Bjortomt/David Stainer
2015	Rotterdam	Kevin Ashman/Pat Gibson	Olav Bjortomt/David Stainer	Didier Bruyere/ Ian Bayley
2016	Athens

National Team champions (four players each)

The English and Belgian teams have contested in most finals, England has won the most titles, eight. The foursome of Kevin Ashman, Mark Bytheway, Pat Gibson and Olav Bjortomt failed to retain the title in 2008 in Oslo, the winning Belgian team composed of Ronny Swiggers, Nico Pattyn, Erik Derycke, and Tom Trogh, but rebounded in 2009. In 2011 Finland became the third team to win the title, beating Norway in the final. Ironically the deciding question after the long and even match with tough questions was about a very common Nordic plant Hepatica. Both teams failed to answer correctly and Finland won. So far five countries have won medals: England, Belgium, Finland, Norway and Estonia.

Year	Venue	Winner	Runner Up	Third Place
2004	Ghent	England (Kevin Ashman, Ian Bayley, Pat Gibson, David Stainer)	Belgium Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Leo De Haes, Jean Marivoet)
2005	Tallinn	Belgium (Patrick Andries, Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Jo Vandenbroucke)	England (Kevin Ashman, Pat Gibson, Barry Simmons, David Stainer)
2006	Paris	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Tom Trogh, Marc van Springel)	England (Kevin Ashman, Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Pat Gibson)	Norway (Trine Aalborg, Harald Aastorp, Dag Fjeldstad, Marie Haavik)
2007	Blackpool	England (Kevin Ashman, Mark Bytheway, Pat Gibson, David Stainer)	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)	Norway (Trine Aalborg, Tore Dahl, Thomas Kolåsæter, Ole Martin Halck) and Finland (Tero Kalliolevo, Jussi Suvanto, Tuomas Tumi)
2008	Oslo	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)	England (Kevin Ashman, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Bytheway, Pat Gibson)	Finland (Tero Kalliolevo, Jussi Suvanto, Tuomas Tumi)
2009	Dordrecht	England (Kevin Ashman, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Bytheway, Pat Gibson)	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)	Norway (Harald Aastorp, Ole Martin Halck, Lars Heggland, Thomas Kolåsæter)
2010	Derby	England (Kevin Ashman, Olav Bjortomt, Pat Gibson, Jesse Honey)	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)	Finland (Tero Kalliolevo, Jussi Suvanto, Timo Toivonen, Tuomas Tumi)
2011	Bruges	Finland (Tero Kalliolevo, Jussi Suvanto, Timo Toivonen, Tuomas Tumi)	Norway (Tore Dahl, Ole Martin Halck, Lars Heggland, Thomas Kolåsæter)	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)
2012	Tartu	England (Kevin Ashman, Olav Bjortomt, Pat Gibson, Jesse Honey)	Finland (Tero Kalliolevo, Jussi Suvanto, Ilkka Tiensuu, Timo Toivonen)	Belgium (Bernard Kreps, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)
2013	Liverpool	England (Kevin Ashman, Olav Bjortomt, Pat Gibson, Jesse Honey)	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)	Norway (Harald Aastorp, Tore Dahl, Ole Martin Halck, Thomas Kolåsæter)
2014	Bucharest	England (Kevin Ashman, Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Pat Gibson)	Belgium (Nico Pattyn, Gerben Smit, Ronny Swiggers, Lars Van Moer)	Norway (Harald Aastorp, Ole Martin Halck, Thomas Kolåsæter, Geir Kristiansen)
2015	Rotterdam	England (Kevin Ashman, Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Pat Gibson)	Belgium (Erik Derycke, Nico Pattyn, Ronny Swiggers, Tom Trogh)	Estonia (Ove Põder, Igor Habal, Illar Tõnisson, Tauno Vahter)

Club champions (four players each)

After the first years the event was dominated by two British teams. Since 2007 the questions have been set by a team of quizmasters from different nationalities, in order to eliminate too much local flavour. Milhous Warriors (2006 line-up Kevin Ashman, Mark Bytheway, Tim Westcott, Sean O'Neill) who won in Paris in 2006. Broken Hearts (Olav Bjortomt, Ian Bayley, Mark Grant, David Stainer) made it three straight 2007-2009, then it was Milhous again with Pat Gibson replacing the late Mark Bytheway. 2012 winner JFGI is the first champion to have quizzers from several countries: Tero Kalliolevo and Jussi Suvanto from Finland, Ove Põder and Tauno Vahter from Estonia. In 2012 all top three teams included several nationalities.

Year	Venue	Winner	Runner Up	Third place
2003	Bromley	Café Den Hemel (Bel)	Clockwork (Bel)	Beunhazen (Bel)
2004	Ghent	Martine Van Camp (Bel)	Here Jezus (Bel)	Beunhazen (Bel)
2005	Tallinn	Duubel (Est: Ove Põder, Tauno Vahter, Rein Põder, Peeter-Erik Kubo)	Turvas (Est: Jaan Allik, Leino Pahtma, Matis Song, Alar Särgava)	Kalamaja Tsirkus (Est: Anne-Malle Hallik, Madis Replik, Tenno Sivadi, Alar Tiidt)
2006	Paris	Milhous Warriors (Eng: Kevin Ashman, Mark Bytheway, Tim Westcott, Sean O'Neill)	Geeks (Eng)	Les Coeurs blessés (Eng)
2007	Blackpool	Broken Hearts (Eng: Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Grant, David Stainer)	Clockwork (Bel)	Café Den Hemel (Bel)
2008	Oslo	Broken Hearts (Eng: Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Grant, David Stainer)	It's Grim Oop North (Eng: Pat Gibson, Barry Simmons, Rob Hannah, David Edwards)	JFGI (Est/Fin: Tero Kalliolevo, Ove Põder, Jussi Suvanto, Tauno Vahter)
2009	Dordrecht	Broken Hearts (Eng: Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Grant, David Stainer)	JFGI (Est/Fin: Tero Kalliolevo, Ove Põder, Jussi Suvanto, Tauno Vahter)	Vatican City (Bel/Eng/Nor: Gerben Smit, Bart ???, Nick Mills, Dag Fjeldstad)
2010	Derby	Milhous Warriors (Eng: Kevin Ashman, Pat Gibson, Sean O’Neill, Tim Westcott)	Broken Hearts (Eng: Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Grant, David Stainer)	Clockwork (Bel: Marnix Baes, Erik Derycke, Bart Permentier, Tom Trogh)
2011	Bruges	Broken Hearts (Eng: Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Grant, Jesse Honey)	Europalia (Nld, Nor, Hrv, Deu: Derk De Graaf, Thomas Kolåsæter, Dorjana Širola, Holger Waldenberger)	JFGI (Est/Fin: Tero Kalliolevo, Ove Põder, Jussi Suvanto, Tauno Vahter)
2012	Tartu	JFGI (Est/Fin: Tero Kalliolevo, Ove Põder, Jussi Suvanto, Tauno Vahter)	Europalia (Nld, Nor, Hrv, Deu: Derk De Graaf, Thomas Kolåsæter, Dorjana Širola, Holger Waldenberger)	Alzheimer (Bel, USA: Ronny Swiggers, Bernard Kreps, Staf Dujardin, Ed Toutant)
2013	Liverpool	Milhous Warriors (Eng: Kevin Ashman, Pat Gibson, Sean O’Neill, Tim Westcott)	JFGI (Est/Fin: Tero Kalliolevo, Ove Põder, Jussi Suvanto, Tauno Vahter)	Clockwork (Bel: Marnix Baes, Erik Derycke, Bart Permentier, Tom Trogh)
2014	Bucharest	Broken Hearts (Eng/Fra: Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Grant, Didier Bruyere)	JFBI (Est/Fin: Tero Kalliolevo, Ove Põder, Igor Habal, Tauno Vahter)	Europalia (Nld, Nor, Hrv, Deu: Derk De Graaf, Thomas Kolåsæter, Dorjana Širola, Holger Waldenberger)
2015	Rotterdam	Broken Hearts (Eng/Fra: Ian Bayley, Olav Bjortomt, Mark Grant, Didier Bruyere)	Clockwork (Bel: Tom Trogh, Bart Permentier, Erik Derycke, Marnix Baes)	Europalia (Nld, Nor, Hrv, Deu: Derk De Graaf, Thomas Kolåsæter, Dorjana Širola, Holger Waldenberger)

References

External links

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