Horowhenua StarQ. Which small New Zealand region has produced a world champion quizzer?
A. Horowhenua
Kelvin Lange, a former student of Levin North Primary School, Levin Intermediate and Dux of Horowhenua College, is officially very, very clever, having captained a team to win the 2025 Global Quiz Nations competition recently.
He says he was attracted to quiz books and encyclopaedias as a youngster in an age well before the internet, where facts can be found at the touch of a button.
“I’ve always loved quizzing,” he says.
Since graduating from Massey University he has lived mostly in Petone working for government departments in various advisory roles. But outside of the office, his hobby is quizzing.
“It started about 25 years ago when I saw a sign advertising a quiz night and I’ve quizzed ever since,” he says. “There weren’t too many in those early days but once you had a team established, you’d catch up with your mates and go quizzing.”
The outbreak of Covid-19 saw a sharp spike in the popularity of online quiz competitions.
Kelvin Lange with his trophies and medal from the online 2025 Global Quiz Nations competition. Photo Paul Williams
Kelvin teamed up with fellow New Zealander Simon Wood and three Australians to win the recent online international team quiz final against a team from India.
Kelvin hit a home run in the final, answering correctly the question: “Which country is the biggest producer of rose oil for cosmetic use?”*
Growing up he had a mind thirsty for knowledge and facts, and watched television quiz shows like University Challenge, The Krypton Factor, Sale of the Century, W3 and Telebingo.
These days he watches The Chase, currently the most popular quiz show on television, screening three times a day.
“My young kids both love answering quiz questions, too, which gives me much excitement,” he says.
Now that children Ethan, 6, and Brooke, 4, are getting a bit older, he might “duck out” once a week and quiz as a treat to help stay “quiz fit”.
Kelvin, 48, and wife Yolandi were part of a team that won a national pub quiz competition, too.
“It’s pretty special to win a national title with family and friends.”
His original pub quiz team won three national pub quiz titles (2005, 2006, 2009), then, forming a new team, he placed second in four consecutive competitions before winning again in 2024.
Quizzing has opened up a whole new world. He’s attended a Quiz Olympiad in Greece, and met The Chase stars like Paul Sinha and Anne Hegerty.
“You have to be interested in lots of stuff, and you have to have the ability to record and recall those sorts of things,” he says. “You do have to work at it.”
He says he’ll happily look up obscure facts, like who was the second man on the moon, but not stop there and find out any other interesting facts around moon landings.
“The fact that I enjoy it helps. It’s not a chore.”
He says quizzing is addictive and admitted it gives him a natural high.
“It releases endorphins. I do find it hard to sleep afterwards, as the questions keep running through your head,” he says.
The only downside to being a world champion quizzer is that it can sometimes limit what games the family plays at Christmas.
“No-one wants to play Trivial Pursuit,” he says.
Other quiz career highlights for Kelvin:
• 2nd in individual event at the Asia-Pacific Quiz Championships in Kuala Lumpur, 2018.
• He and Yolandi were joined by famous Paul “Sinnerman” Sinha of The Chase fame for a pub quiz in Wellington.
• Kelvin once had lunch with The Chase’s Anne “Governess” Hegerty.
• He attended the inaugural Quiz Olympiad in Athens in 2016, meeting Ken Jennings (USA Jeopardy legend and current host), Chasers, Eggheads and other superstars.
*(Answer: Bulgaria)
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