Sydney man dubbed the 'Annihilator' wins spreadsheet world championship

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/15/you-didnt-just-succeed-you-exceled-sydney-man-dubbed-the-annihilator-wins-excel-world-championship

by tonyedgecombe • 3 years ago

233 84 3 years ago

theguardian.com

dgrin91• 3 years ago

I wish they would explain more about what the actual tasks are. They basically jus said 'you get data and you do calculations'. Well thanks, thats basically all excel. A link to the problem set would be interesting. Real time data from Eve is pretty cool, but whats the actual results they are trying to get? How do they do scoring?

codetrotter• 3 years ago

I have a feeling that these sorts of questions will be answered if we look at the actual video from the finals.

https://www.youtube.com/live/UDGdPE_C9u8

Tyr42• 3 years ago

13 minutes in.

lIl-IIIl• 3 years ago

The puzzle description begins at 1:18:44.

But it doesn't feel like it's a complete description of the puzzle, just the data format. Do the competitors have a list of questions?

TOMDM• 3 years ago

There are some sample cases on the Financiaal Modelling World Cup website.

https://fmworldcup.com/sample-cases/

Tao3300• 3 years ago

That's probably above the Guardian's heads. I don't mean that as a diss, just that that level of technicality isn't their thing.

BLKNSLVR• 3 years ago

Direct excerpt that gives an idea of the task(s):

"With entertainment in mind, the organisers shortened rounds to 30 minutes and livened up the cases. For example, Ngai had to calculate the market value of a fleet of spaceships using real data from the video game Eve Online – with the action televised live on ESPN."

peetabix• 3 years ago

I think 'People make games' did a video on it on YouTube.

throwup238• 3 years ago

I was not expecting a sweet photo of a beaming actuary when opening an article about someone nicknamed the “Annihilator.”

That Excel championship wrestling belt is really cool though.

lianna-vba• 3 years ago

The prizes are really cool. The winner of the sister competition (more finance focused) gets a large 'diamond' encrusted ring.

I encourage anyone who enjoys problem solving and Excel to sign up for the upcoming 2024 competition. Who knows, maybe you'll get flown out to Las Vegas to compete in the finals next year?

https://fmworldcup.com/product-category/battles/

resolutebat3• 3 years ago

It's not a novel observation that in the online world, the people with the most badass handles tend to the most harmless in real life.

In Ngai's favor, though, apparently somebody else came up with his moniker.

wyclif• 3 years ago

Other than becoming an actuary, how do these people become Excel gurus? What Excel books do they read?

tkzed49• 3 years ago

Personally I'm a fan of MAKRO, I think his commentary on the meta is very insightful.

https://youtu.be/xubbVvKbUfY

resolutebat3• 3 years ago

"What's up sheetheads!" Looking forward to the Annihilator crushing next year's Ballmercon, at least if MS gets their fucking shit together and fixes the Chinese key bindings.

scrlk• 3 years ago

Did the pro scene ever get over the introduction of XLOOKUP overturning years of established meta?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICp2-EUKQAI

blitzar2• 3 years ago

I cant believe they nerfed VLOOKUP like that.

mongol• 3 years ago

He was the one who introduced me to the pro scene.

ta8645• 3 years ago

Judging from the other replies, this is a real thing. But I was convinced it was a parody comedy video after watching it myself.

orthoxerox• 3 years ago

No, it's a comedy video, but life imitates art.

resolutebat3• 3 years ago

Congratulations, you are one of today's lucky 10,000 [1] to discover Krazam. Start with Microservices: https://youtu.be/y8OnoxKotPQ?feature=shared

[1] https://xkcd.com/1053/

29athrowaway• 3 years ago

I never thought I was going to see an Excel world tournament with commentators, etc. That is, Excel as an e-sport.

cglong• 3 years ago

I actually watched this live at a sports bar airing ESPN-U. It was a surreal experience haha

manav• 3 years ago

Excellent.

marcod• 3 years ago

But the last word goes to Brandon Moyer, who was eliminated in the final. In his post-game interview, the US competitor thanked his wife, who “never made fun of me, even once, for competing in the Microsoft Excel world championship”.

bryancoxwell• 3 years ago

Aw.

blitzar2• 3 years ago

* to his face

splatzone• 3 years ago

That brought a tear to my eye. What a beautiful example of love

xyst• 3 years ago

“…spreadsheet world championship”

There’s a competition for everything now. What’s next?

Most Compelling Deck Championship?

edit; I’m convinced this is a just a massive MS excel advertisement. Smh

gU9x3u8XmQNG• 3 years ago

Much support, especially if it is run by kiwi’s.

Loughla• 3 years ago

It can be both. It can be a fun competition and an advertisement for excel.

People go nuts over how many times a group of people can kick a ball into a net, why not spreadsheets?

constantly• 3 years ago

Most Compelling Deck Championship?

Usually people try to avoid deck measuring contests.

boomboomsubban2• 3 years ago

edit; I’m convinced this is a just a massive MS excel advertisement. Smh

If Microsoft was behind this, why would they hide their involvement? And if they were, why would that change anything about it?

iancmceachern• 3 years ago

Aren't moat sporting events just one massive advertisement?

acomjean• 3 years ago

It might be a MS pr move. But it seems a lot of competitions are for boosting an industry. The Oscar's celebrate movies, he Grammys promote music, "the game awards" promote games.

I imagine a fornite competetion would be sponsored by epic.

onion2k• 3 years ago

Most Compelling Deck Championship?

Not quite the same but I've attended a few barcamp conferences that have had "PowerPoint kareoke" competitions - the goal is to present a random deck from SlideShare that you haven't seen before, and the most entertaining (by judges or by the crowd) wins. It's very funny.

yowlingcat• 3 years ago

I think this is a flippant comment. You can do just about anything in Excel, so being good at it to me feels akin to winning a programming olypmiad -- abstract, sure, but still indicative of strong, transferrable skills. To me, to dismiss that is to reflect your own close mindedness and intellectual laziness rather than anything about the comeptition.

RcouF1uZ4gsC• 3 years ago

with the action televised live on ESPN.

That’s what happens where there are more TV minutes than sports minutes.

boomboomsubban2• 3 years ago

As someone who steamed a bit of kabaddi last weekend, we are nowhere near that point.

PrimeMcFly• 3 years ago

Well that's weird. Moreso that it was televised by ESPN and had an audience on the edge of their seats.

kazinator• 3 years ago

OK, let's have a show of hands. How many of you would trade your software dev / coding skills for that title?

mynameisnoone• 3 years ago

Only if it was accomplished with SuperCalc.

hexane360• 3 years ago

Here's a great video about these Excel competitions: https://youtu.be/N2QC6VQXo8U

deebosong• 3 years ago

Make it into an e-sports competition.

But rather than try to hype it up like fighting game tournaments, have it be somewhat milder in aesthetics and tone, for the type of crowd it might draw. Like "Best in Show" or "Great British Bake Off" or what have you.

ozim2• 3 years ago

Exactly I feel that belt - albeit funny - is more cringey than whatever else they could come up with.

Then I say dynamic commentary is still something you want - but talkative host asking a guy that is going to drop underground in seconds is not bes use of watch time

brendamn• 3 years ago

He says he is “not bad” at maths – by which he means he came top in the state of New South Wales in his year 12 maths exams

As an Australian that has worked with American companies for a while, this is a behaviour I’ve had to overcome. If you tell an Australian you’re “not bad” at something then they’ll take that to mean that you’re actually quite good, whereas many Americans will understand it to mean that you’re not good.

Grimburger• 3 years ago

Understatement is a cultural thing to the point that chatbots have to be retrained to understand it: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/agl-trains-its-chatbot-alfie-...

doesnt_know• 3 years ago

I'm sure you're aware, but thought I'd drop this for our American friends. Australia and New Zealand (where I'm from) share Tall poppy syndrome[1] and going by that Wikipedia page, there are various over countries that have a similar concept.

Being overly self-congratulatory comes across as this sort of grotesque and unattractive quality. It is even true in the corporate environments I've worked at where you would normally otherwise expect it. Kiwis don't like it and I've seen many foreigners, especially the few Americans that have come over into management roles completely flounder and have almost everyone hate them because of it.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome

Waterluvian• 3 years ago

Interesting!

In Canada being modest is quite important… unless it’s a job interview (whether explicit or implicit), in which case it’s the “one time you should really brag about what you’re good at.”

yawnxyz• 3 years ago

As an American who's spent two years in Sydney and having met VC types here, it's like they toe the line of not wanting to boast but really speak down on a lot of people. There's some sort of hidden aristocracy here, and you can feel like they think they're way better than you.

You get some of that in the US too but there are also way more down-to-earth people there who actually want to help, and advice is actually helpful, rather than regurgitations of PG essays and Lean Startup.

gerdesj• 3 years ago

We have a similar concept in the UK too. However, I have never heard of tall poppy syndrome.

foob• 3 years ago

Does it always mean that in Australia, or does it depend on how you say it? I think both usages are actually pretty common in the US, but you tell the difference based on the inflection. If you emphasize "too" and go down in pitch on "bad" then it means you're actually not that good at something, if you emphasize "bad" and go up in pitch then it means you're actually good at it. We also have alternative constructions, like "not too shabby," which carry the positive connotation regardless of how they're pronounced.

firecall• 3 years ago

That’s my practical understanding of the term as well.

Me: English, living in Australia for >20 years

RoyalHenOil2• 3 years ago

I'm an American who has lived in Australia for a little over a decade, and I have not noticed a difference between Australians and Americans in this regard. If you aren't too familiar with one accent or the other, it may be a little difficult to pick up on whether someone is emphasizing or deemphasizing "too" or "bad", but the essential meaning of the emphasis is the same.

In general, I find Americans and Australians deemphasize positive things at about the same rate and in the same circumstances, though the exact phrasing used can differ (although "not too bad" is a case where the phrase is shared in both dialects).

However, Australians are more likely to also deemphasize negative things (e.g., "This weather is average" to mean it's bad) whereas Americans are more likely to use sarcasm for negative things (e.g., "This weather is great" to mean it's bad).

inopinatus• 3 years ago

“Sorry to bother you” - I have a life-critical emergency

“That is remarkable” - It is horrifyingly bad

“Have you had your tea?” - Get out of my house

InCityDreams• 3 years ago

“Have you had your tea?” - Get out of my house

"Tea", meaning 'dinner', I presume.

nosrepa2• 3 years ago

Must not have worked with any Minnesotans then!

AuryGlenz• 3 years ago

Heh, as a Minnesotan I was confused by the original comment until now. I didn’t realize that was a regional thing.

refurb• 3 years ago

whereas many Americans will understand it to mean that you’re not good

I haven't found that to be true. Tooting your own horn is generally looked upon as impolite in many circles. It's pretty common for someone who is outstanding at something to say "yeah, not bad".

And in a very meta way, it can be seen as a flex. Someone who is undeniably the best at something can say "yeah, I'm not bad" with a smirk to show that yeah, they know they are very good.

Now there are some circles in the US where bragging is common - banking, VC, hell even tech. But that's not America.

userbinator• 3 years ago

The same culture of understatement is present in the UK, which is where Australia likely inherited it from.

throwawaysugar• 3 years ago

Link to the finals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGdPE_C9u8

sundvor3• 3 years ago

Eve Online (aka spreadsheets in space) players past and present might enjoy the reference that was made in the article. Was it an in-joke?

"For example, Ngai had to calculate the market value of a fleet of spaceships using real data from the video game Eve Online – with the action televised live on ESPN."

ozim2• 3 years ago

No, Eve Online was one of the sponsors. Surprisingly pro level gamers use spreadsheets more than one would expect from „gaming”.

Final round was really about calculating stuff based on game economy. Challenge was created by top game guy. Which in some ways was surprising for finance guys.

sundvor3• 3 years ago

Ahh, that's pretty cool - thanks for that info!

I played Eve for a good while (more than a decade) and the complexities was one of the appealing aspects, but unfortunately at one point the time between my sessions increased more and more, and I fell behind the learning and time curve, and dropped out.

fbdab103• 3 years ago

Do they publish the questions/data anywhere? Would love to have an informal competition among similarly minded friends.

Of course, I would try to do it in Pandas and get crushed.

tacon• 3 years ago

I just heard of this Excel competition, but Modeloff world championship has been going for somewhat longer. It tests Excel skills plus financial modeling skills. They have all the old questions available for study:

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/financial-mo...

emeril2• 3 years ago

some friends of mine tried to convince me to compete in this though one should only go after these things for fun instead of any real expectation of money

i.e., I actually went through some historical modeloff questions years ago and could get them relatively easily but spending the same effort training but at my job/career is a way to make more money, on an expected value basis, than competing in any excel competition...

codeulike• 3 years ago

This is the 3 hour video of the final apparently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGdPE_C9u8

The bit where Andrew Ngai's scores dont correctly update seems to be at about 24:00

Hope someone can make a highlights reel or something?

arnaudsm• 3 years ago

I'd be very interested in watching traditional competitive programmers tackling these challenges. Can they beat low-code excel ?

SOLAR_FIELDS• 3 years ago

It does seem fitting that an actuary would win this considering how much of their work day and job description revolves around Excel and what it can do

neontomo• 3 years ago

If you like nerdy championships like these, also check out:

Classic Tetris World Championships - https://www.youtube.com/@ClassicTetris

Webflow Speed Build Challenge - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9regpz3xvrs

barbazoo2• 3 years ago

I wonder if I’ll ever find another type of software that makes me as happy as spreadsheets, whatever implementation really, Excel, Google sheets, …. Perhaps not the Apple one actually.

cobbaut• 3 years ago

Nothing beats Lotus123 :)

emeril2• 3 years ago

lotus123 is actually pretty good

better in most ways than modern excel

modern excel is pretty terrible compared with excel after 2003

Sydney man dubbed the 'Annihilator' wins spreadsheet world championship

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