Table Tennis
The Table Tennis finals saw the home side, Nottingham, featuring in all four Big BUCS Wednesday games. The chances of a quadruple were certainly slim, but they were ready to give it a shot.
In the first match of the day, the Nottingham women’s 2s defeated a strong-looking UCL side 3-0. This secured their first overall victory of the day, winning the Women’s National Trophy.
The Nottingham men’s 2s were certainly looking to replicate the women’s success against Loughborough in the Men’s National Trophy. With Loughborough defeating Edinburgh 9-3 in their semi-final, they seemed to be in good shape to defeat the home side. However, after some fantastic table tennis from both sides, Nottingham emerged victorious with a 10-4 score line. Perhaps unrepresentative of the fight put up by Loughborough, but it was unquestionable that the better team on the day emerged victorious.
Then came the first of the National Championships. The women were up first, with Nottingham facing Nottingham Trent. Having finished top of the championship table in the regular season, Nottingham were certainly the favourites going into this one. This momentum seemed to pay dividends as the Nottingham squad smashed their way to a 5-0 victory against their bitter rivals.
In the final match of the day, the Nottingham Men’s 1s were up against NTU to secure the elusive Big BUCS Wednesday quadruple for the home side. After some great displays, Nottingham came out on top in a 10-2 victory, securing a perfect record for the day.
Tennis
There were also four matches in the tennis, all of which featured a British University sporting powerhouse: Loughborough.
The players in African Violet dominated proceedings, but were defeated in their first match of the day. The Nottingham women’s 2s came out on top in a reasonably close affair, bringing yet another trophy to the home side’s cabinet.
For the rest of the day, however, Loughborough were dominant. In the Men’s Trophy, Loughborough held their nerve against Stirling in a shootout to bring home a very tight victory.
The Loughborough women’s 1s avenged the loss against Nottingham earlier in the day, defeating the home side. Securing the National Championship, as well as topping the league during the season, caps off a fantastic season for the side.
The men’s was a closer affair, with Loughborough losing the first set against Stirling. However, a strong fightback from the African Violets meant that they were able to clinch their third victory of the day in the third set of that match, capping of a great day of tennis.
Volleyball
Volleyball is one of the most entertaining sports in the BUCS repertoire, and it certainly did not disappoint at Big BUCS Wednesday.
In the first match, Durham and UCL locked horns to see who would take home the women’s trophy. After a hard fought match, Durham came out on top, but both teams should be commended for their skilful and passionate play.
In the men’s trophy, UCL took to the court to try and go one further than their female counterparts. Battling against a strong Aberdeen outfit, it was set to be a high quality game between the two universities. It was UCL on the right side of the score line in this one, however, as they defeated their Scottish opponents.
In the first of the championship matches, the Durham women’s side faced up against Newcastle in somewhat of a local derby between the two sides. With both passion and quality on show, it was Durham who edged past their neighbours to secure the women’s Championship.
Finally, Nottingham and Essex faced off in the men’s Championship final – a matchup that promised to yield a fantastic match. After four sets of battling, it was Nottingham who came out on top 3-1. It was a fantastic way to finish the day, especially with the jubilant celebrations of the Nottingham side and their supporters.
Water Polo
In the men’s trophy we saw a familiar matchup as Loughborough took on Nottingham. After the first half, Nottingham were firmly in the driving seat, but a heroic second half comeback meant Loughborough came out on top. With the final score line at 12-8, it really could have gone either way.
For the women, Sheffield Hallam and Exeter locked horns in the trophy match. In a dominant performance, Sheffield Hallam came out on top 32-9 in the highest scoring match of the day, and it was a very exciting match indeed.
In the women’s championship match, Durham and St Andrews both made the long trip down to Nottingham. In the closest score line of the day, St Andrews edged out Durham by just three goals as the match finished 9-12. A fantastic back-and-forth match that had the spectators on the edge of their seats for the duration.
In the men’s championship match, Edinburgh faced off against a home Nottingham side in the last match of the day. Making the long journey worth their while, Edinburgh managed to stem the flow of Nottingham trophy-hunting in a very physical affair.
Wheelchair Basketball
In the inaugural wheelchair basketball final at Big BUCS Wednesday, Nottingham and Cardiff Met displayed why it is such an entertaining sport, proving that its inclusion is both important and justified.
As in many of the events in the day, Nottingham came out on top, taking the National Championship with a score line of 66-40.
With great skill and buckets of passion on the court, the wheelchair basketball was a fantastic match, and is certainly one that I will be tuning in for when Big BUCS Wednesday 2023 rolls around.
