University of Nottingham student athletes have once again dominated the team finals at the national university championships, BUCS Big Wednesday, cementing Nottingham's continued status as the top Higher Education institution for team sport in the UK.
The Green and Gold took home 11 Championship wins in Wheelchair Basketball, Men's and Women's Table Tennis, Men's and Women's Hockey, Men's and Women's Fencing, Women's Water Polo, Men's Tennis, Women's Badminton and Women's Lacrosse.
Hosted at Loughborough University, BUCS Big Wednesday welcomed over 2,000 of the UK's top student athletes to compete for national titles across 16 sports. A record 31 Nottingham teams qualified for finals, more than any other university and with 18 of those teams in the hunt for the top tier National Championships titles, the scene was set for a historic day for the Green and Gold.
First off the mark were Wheelchair Basketball, who had earnt their spot at BUCS Big Wednesday after a huge semifinal win against last year's champions Worcester. The team carried forward their momentum with confidence, defeating home side Loughborough by a comfortable 10 point margin to take their second National Championship victory in the five year history of the sport's inclusion.
Following closely behind and on the hunt for their tenth consecutive National Championship title, the University's Men's Table Tennis thrived under the pressure and looked confident throughout their 9-3 victory over local rivals Nottingham Trent. The win marks an incredible decade of dominance at the top of UK university table tennis.
Not to be outdone, the Women's Table Tennis squad, current England #1 Tin-Tin Ho and teammate Yat Poon needed just 15 minutes to cruise past their opponents, delivering two dominant singles wins followed by a rapid doubles victory to wrap the title up 3-0.
It feels incredible to have spent a decade at the top. Today, we just wanted to believe in ourselves, we knew that if we played our game and played to our strengths, we would be victorious. Several of our players are now competing in the senior national championships at the weekend, so it's straight back in the training hall and focussed on hopefully more trophies!"
Meanwhile over at the Waterbase pitch watched by a sellout crowd, it was an emotional fourth consecutive title for the Women's Hockey team. Stuck in a 0-0 deadlock with rivals Loughborough at half-time, the team came out firing after the break. Maddie Axford found Tilly O'Dea on the back post and Sienna Dunn slotted a penalty corner home to go 2-0 up. Loughborough did pull a goal back, but Nottingham stayed organised and held their nerve to emerge victorious 2-1.
It feels incredible to have won the four peat. Experience has been critical, but it's also about the ethos of the programme. Every year new players come in and every year they step up to the challenge. They come to the University of Nottingham for a reason - to play at the very highest level and to give 110% effort out there on the pitch."
Next up, Nottingham's Men's Hockey posted the most thrilling comeback of the day to make it a dream season for the University's hockey programme. After going down 0-2 to the home side Loughborough, they had to wait until the final quarter for a goal from Zak Buck and then with just minutes to go, Max Anderson fired a second past the goalkeeper to send the game to penalty shuffles. In the shootout, goalkeeper David Wood kept his side in the title hunt, setting captain George Baugniet up to score the deciding shuffle and lift the trophy.
The Green and Gold weren't yet finished with the double wins; after a long day of action on the fencing piste, Men's Fencing secured their back-to-back Championship title, this time defeating familiar rivals Durham with a very comfortable 120-98 margin. The Women's Fencing squad, also matched up with Durham, had to fight hard for their Championship backed all the way by a vociferous crowd. Heading into the third weapon with a small lead, nerves were jangled as the Durham fencers fought hard to stay in the game. BUCS Individual Champion Rachael Lever held her nerve to seal the match victory 103-99 much to the delight of the travelling supporters.
Also in the Indoor Tennis Centre, Men's Tennis kept performance levels at a maximum throughout a marathon day of match ups. Facing Stirling, the team had to navigate several tense singles and doubles rubbers and after over 5 hours on court the chance to seal the trophy fell to NCAA sports scholar Dominik Kellovsky who didn't hesitate. The victory is the first time Men's Tennis have been crowned national champions since 1954 and marks several years of dedication to building the perfect performance environment.
Next door in the pool, Women's Water Polo also eased past Durham with a 16-8 victory, making it two national titles in a row for the programme. The team looked dominant throughout with player of the match Pippa Danielson leading the attacking charge.
Underdogs ahead of the match up, Women's Badminton dispatched home favourites Loughborough with a edgy 5-3 victory. Zhou Meng, Studying at the University through the Deng Yaping scholarship backed by the legendary Chinese athlete of the 20th century, BUCS individual champion Zhou Meng set the tone with two comprehensive singles wins. Her teammates, including fellow Deng Yaping scholar and BUCS Doubles champion, Yiyi Tao, ran with the advantage, closing the fixture off with a tense 3-set doubles victory.
As the sun began to set, Women's Lacrosse were keen to switch their 2024 runners up medals for a gold version and from the outset looked supremely dominant. Goals rained in from several angles, leaving opponents Exeter quickly behind and closing the Championship title 12-3.
It's hard to describe how proud we are of all our student athletes and everyone behind these teams. They have all worked incredibly hard to reach these finals and to have 11 national champions, as well as our Trophy and Vase winners and other finalists, is incredible. The memories from today will live long in the memory of everyone who was there competing and cheering on from the sidelines. To be the top university at BUCS Big Wednesday and for team sport brings a level of pressure, and we continually strive to raise our performance levels and innovate to find that extra edge over our opponents. It's testament to the dedication and commitment of everyone who's involved with the programme at the University of Nottingham and I can't thank them enough.
An incredible achievement in itself, the University of Nottingham also had a further 7 National Championship runners up; American Football, Men's and Women's Football, Men's Water Polo, Men's Badminton, Women's Squash, and Men's Lacrosse.
In the Trophy and Vase competition, Tennis Women's 2s, Fencing Men's 2s, Women's Table Tennis 2s, Men's Rugby League 1s, Netball 1s all emerged victorious.
For the full results of all the BUCS Big Wednesday finals, including links to watch back all the live streams, click here.
The team season might be drawing to a close but there's still plenty of action still to come for the University of Nottingham with Golf, Cricket and Beach Volleyball all looking to add to the domestic trophy cabinet, plus the return of the hotly anticipated Nottingham Varsity Series.
