- "They are a family team whom have been building together for the last 19 years, and have taken part in every Robot Wars series since the second series in 1998. They have also represented Sri Lanka in the World Championships."
- — Robot Wars website on the team
Team Supernova, originally Team Trinity, is a team that competed in eight different series of Robot Wars. The team was founded by Suren Balendran and mostly consisted of the Balendran family. The team were originally local to Greater London where they studied, but later moved to Surrey, with a family background in Sri Lanka which the team represented in multiple series.
The Team[]
Official photo of the Series 6 team
The majority of the team members' roots were in Sri Lanka, the nation that the team represented during The Third World Championship. Team Supernova was captained by Suren Balendran, an oil and gas industry specialist. He was consistently joined by Thuvaaragen Balendran, and Nishani Balendran, an IT specialist, became a regular team member from Series 5 onwards.
The team entered two robots; Oblivion, which competed in Series 2-4, although only in the Pinball during Series 3, and Supernova, which competed in Series 5-9.
The original name Team Trinity came from the school the Balendran family attended, Trinity School in Croydon, which gave them help with building Oblivion and sponsored it.
- "I feel that I would not have been able to enter my first two robots (oblivion1/2) without the help from TRINITY SCHOOL Croydon and more importantly the teachers in the DT department. Thank you for all your help guys!"
- — Suren Balendran on the Team Supernova website
However, by the time the team built Supernova, they had left the school, so Trinity School was not involved in the building of Supernova. Suren Balendran was attending University College London, and they donated to Supernova, and contributed some of the components, most notably the disc, which was made by the college to Suren's design[1].
Team Supernova enter the arena in Series 8
The team enjoyed a mixed run of success during their appearances on Robot Wars, reaching two Heat Finals and finishing runner-up in the Third World Championship, but also going out in the first round on four occasions. Series 9 was their biggest middle ground, finishing third within their heat. With appearances in eight different series, Team Supernova were among the most recurring faces in the show, although they did not enter Series 10 due to personal commitments[2].
Team Members[]
Suren Balendran[]
Suren Balendran and the Series 8 version of Supernova
The captain and only ever-present team ember, Suren drove Oblivion and Supernova across almost all their appearances, built both robots, and also controlled Oblivion 2's axe. The only time he did not control the team's robot was in Series 3.
He first chose to enter Robot Wars after watching Series 1, founded the team, and built Oblivion at Trinity School with sponsorship from the school.
- "...I watched Series 1, I saw Mortis, and I thought "Yeah, I've got to get involved in that!" ... That really got me into it, so I was around 16, and pretty much, when all the other kids were out playing football, I was in the workshop at lunchtime, making Oblivion."
- — Suren Balendran on the origins of Oblivion, interviewed in 2020. [3]
Suren in the team's VT in Series 9
He also designed and built Supernova, getting help from University College London to make some of the parts.
Suren Balendran was specifically chosen to be a mentor in Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars. It was suggested that he would appear in Episode 2, mentoring Suzi Perry and Dallas Campbell, presenters of TV shows such as The Gadget Show. However, Balendran could not travel to the venue in time[4], and his role was filled by Craig Danby. Balendran confirmed that he was not involved with the build process of Perry's robot, The Cat.
Thuvaragaan Balendran[]
Suren and Thuvaragaan at the controls of Oblivion 2
Thuvaragaan (centre) is interviewed by Phillipa Forrester
Suren's brother, Thuvaragaan Balendran was present for almost all of the team's appearances, only being absent from Series 3.
When entering with Oblivion 2, Thuvaragaan helped Suren with the robot's controls, as Suren also needed to operate the axe, He was the weapons operator for Supernova across all of its appearances, and helped to design the robot.
- "my brother would turn on the disc and would leave it on unless there was a issue and he would turn it off."
- — Suren Balendran on Thuvaragaan's control of the disc[5]
Suren was the main speaker of the team, but Thuvaragaan regularly also contributed to the teams' introductions and interviews.
Prasamna Arignadadam[]
Team Trinity in Series 2
Only part of the team for Series 2, Prasamma Arignadadam was a friend of Thuvaragaan, who had previous experience with remote controlled cars[6].
As the team consisted of teenagers, the rules stated that they needed to have one team member who was over 18, and Prasamna Arignadadam was the eldest of the three[7]. This role was taken by Suren and Thuvaragaan's father Supphiah for the next two series, until Thuvaragaan became 18.
Though Suren did the majority of speaking in the team's introductions and interviews, he did briefly speak to Craig Charles after the Gauntlet, where he mentioned being part of the build process.
- Craig Charles: "Lads, what can I say? Shunted, pick-axed, chainsawed, and then sent to oblivion! It seemed to be able to stand up to a good bit of stick though, didn't it?"
- Prasamna Arignadadam: "Yeah, we built it well!"
- — Post-Gauntlet interview
Supphiah Balendran[]
The father of Suren, Thuvaragaan and Nishani, Supphiah was part of the team in Series 3 and 4. The team needed a member over the age of 18, and Supphiah also drove the team to filming[8].
He did not control the robot, nor did he have a speaking role. He did not appear after Series 4, presumably because Suren was now 18 years old.
Tom James[]
Only part of the team during Oblivion 2's appearance in the Pinball Warrior tournament in Series 3, Tom James controlled Oblivion 2. He went to the same secondary school as Suren, and actually provided the axe head for Oblivion 2[9].
As the Pinball competitors did not have introductions or interviews, he did not get a speaking role in his only appearance.
Nishani Balendran[]
Team Supernova in Series 6
Suren's sister, Nishani joined the team in Series 5, and would appear in each of Supernova's appearances, apart from Series 9.
According to the Robot Wars website, her role in the team was "Artwork and Moral support"[10], though her role as team artist was replaced by Rozzi Kennedy for Series 9.
Renuka Ranichandran[]
Team Supernova in their VT for Series 9
Joining the team for the rebooted series, Renuka is Suren's wife. On the Robot Wars website, her role in the team was listed as "Moral Support" in Series 8, and "Strategist" in Series 9[11].
Renuka married Suren between Series 8 and 9, so she is credited as Renuka Ranichandran on the team's Series 8 profile, and Renuka Balendran in Series 9. She did not have a speaking role in either series.
Rozzi Kennedy[]
Team Supernova walk to the arena in Series 9
Only part of the team in Series 9, the team's final appearance, Rozzi Kennedy is the wife of Thuvaragaan Balendran. Working as a painter outside of Robot Wars, she managed the aesthetics for Supernova, giving it a new colour scheme and logo[12].
Curiously, she was absent from the team's VT.
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Oblivion | Heavyweight | Series 2-4 |
| Supernova | Heavyweight | Series 5-9 |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 8
- Losses: 9
Series Record[]
| Series | Team Supernova Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Heat Final with Oblivion |
| The Third Wars | Pinball Competition with Oblivion 2 |
| The Fourth Wars | Heat, Round 1 with Oblivion 2 |
| The Fifth Wars | Heat, Round 1 with Supernova |
| The Sixth Wars | Heat Final with Supernova |
| The Seventh Wars | Heat, Round 1 with Supernova |
| Series 8 | Heat, Round 1 with Supernova |
| Series 9 | Heat, Round 2 with Supernova |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars[]
Flick
During the time the show was off-air, the team built a heavyweight flipper called Flick. However, it only appeared at one live event, and it was later sold to Team Nemesis.
- "Flick never made it to TV, we went to one live event and didn’t really get it working properly. My life was pretty busy then and I did not have time to go to live events. In the end it was sold to the Diotoir guys."
- — Suren Balendran on Flick[13]
Trivia[]
- Team Supernova are the only Sri Lankan team to enter Robot Wars, and the only Asian team as well, aside from Natsuko Hori of Team B.
- Despite competing in all the UK Championships around them (4 to 7), Team Supernova did not compete in either series of Robot Wars Extreme. They were invited to compete in the second series of Extreme, but a clash with university exams prevented their attendance[14].
- If Oblivion 2's appearance in the Third Wars is considered, Team Supernova are one of only three teams to compete in seven series of Robot Wars, alongside Team Make Robotics and Team Hurtz.
- Just like the other three teams in Series 9 to debut in Series 2 (Team Hurtz, Team Make Robotics and Team 13), Team Supernova finished third in its heat during Series 9.
References[]
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Supernova - Fighting Robot Facebook page, April 3 2017
- ↑ RoboNerd TV Livestream - interviews, panels and drop-ins with roboteers and familiar faces!
- ↑ Supernova - Fighting Robot Facebook page
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Robot Wars Official website - Competitors, Season 8, Week 3, Supernova
- ↑ Robot Wars Official website - Competitors, Season 9, Week 4, Supernova
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
- ↑ Supernova - Fighting Robot Facebook page
- ↑ Private correspondence with Toon Ganondorf and the Supernova Facebook page
External Links[]
Honours[]
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