NAQT China Championships
The NAQT China Championships were begun in 2021 by NAQT in collaboration with Chinese education company SKT. The event is hosted annually during China's high school summer vacation season. Players must perform well in the NAQT China Qualification Tournament to qualify for the Chinese final. Since 2022, the tournament has two divisions: "pre" and "pro."
Past Results
2021 Result
2022 Result
In the pre-division, Shanghai High School International Division beat Beanstalk International Bilingual School to receive the championship title. In the pro-division, Tsinglan School won the final match against Jinan Foreign Language School.
2023 Result
In the pre-division, BASIS Nanjing defeated Living Word Shanghai to win the championship title. In the pro-division, Beijing Keystone Academy defeated Beijing Camford, gaining its first National title.
Criticism
Pricing
The pricing for the tournament is highly unreasonable. In 2023, the fee for the China Championships was 3980 RMB per person, which is about 555 dollars per person, or 2220 dollars per team, assuming a 1 to 7.2 RMB to USD exchange ratio.
Statistics
The NAQT China Championships do not record individual statistics. The tournament gives out three levels of personal awards, Golden Buzzer, Silver Buzzer, and Bronze Buzzer, without publishing the recipients' game statistics.
Competition System
NAQT China Championships uses single elimination systems for its playoffs. Furthermore, the playoff match-up does not consider teams' prelim-round-record but is entirely determined by a match draw.
Probable Cheating Scandal
In the 2022 tournament, Jiangsu Tianyi D lost to Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy in the prelim round by 400-0. In the first round of the playoffs, the two teams met again, and Jiangsu Tianyi D won the match with a score of 310-150. A conspiracy theory exists in the Chinese Quiz Bowl world that Jiangsu Tianyi D acquired the question set before the tournament.
Staff Ability
Many of the tournament staff are not proficient in necessary English skills. It happened that some scorekeepers neither understand nor speak English.