NRI boy wins BBC's Junior Mastermind

A 10-year-old Indian boy has emerged as the youngest champion in the history of a BBC quiz show, Junior Mastermind.

David Verghese, who made it to the BBC1 show finals sailing through the heats, had the Jurassic Park trilogy his specialist subject.

For the final, he chose the life and work of Star Wars director George Lucas as his specialism.

David, a student of Merchant Taylors' Junior School, Crossby, Merseyside, beat three other boys in the final -- securing 31 points in total, 15 on his specialist subject and 16 in the general knowledge round.

This avid reader, who attributed his newly-found success to 'reading, reading and more reading,' revealed J R R Tolkien, H G Wells and Isaac Asimov as his favourite authors.

"I have a passion for books. I have been reading for as long as I can remember. I read for at least two hours every night, often more."

After winning the championship, David said, "I love the challenge of quizzes. I do not get nervous. I put everything else out of my mind and try to focus on the questions."

His 47-year-old mother, Rama said: "David has an insatiable quest for knowledge. He had wanted to appear on Junior Mastermind ever since he first watched it three years ago, but the rules were quite clear that no one younger than 10 was allowed to apply."

David was introduced to Star Wars by his father, George, 43. "I am a big fan of sci-fi and think Star Wars is the absolute gold standard for sci-fi fans around the world," said David, who desires to make it to university in Cambridge one day.