March 22, 2018, by Liz Goodwin

Student athletes excel in BUCS Big Wednesday

One of the biggest sporting events in the university calendar, BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Big Wednesday, took place yesterday at the University of Nottingham and student athletes kept up the University’s fine sporting tradition.

Highlights included a third consecutive Championship gold for the Men’s table tennis squad, who dominated their final winning 10-0 with games to spare against UCL in the last fixture of the evening to take the national title. Women’s Squash also dominated — led by their first seed and World top 50 player Coline Aumard, they breezed past Edinburgh without dropping a single set.

BUCS Big Wednesday is the pinnacle of the BUCS calendar and yesterday’s activities saw 104 teams, competing in championship and trophy finals, descend on the University of Nottingham for one day of sporting excellence, where over 200 volunteers, officials and BUCS staff delivered a truly memorable athlete experience.

100,000 students each year take part in competitions in some 3,500 teams across 600 leagues, making it the biggest student sporting programme in Europe. It accommodates 52 fixtures in 14 sports, including basketball, football, hockey, squash and table tennis.

Hosted by the University for the first time, the event took place in four hub venues in the city, including the £40m David Ross Sports Village on University Park campus and the Nottingham Tennis Centre.

BUCS and the University were delighted to welcome BUCS Patron, HRH The Princess Royal who attended the outstanding event. The Royal Family’s first Olympian — having competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games as a member of the British equestrian team — was on University Park Campus to hand out medals at the volleyball final, and watch the squash, fencing and basketball championship matches.

Vince Mayne, CEO of BUCS who attended yesterday’s event, said: “BUCS Big Wednesday ultimately showcases the best of higher education sport, bringing previous and current Olympians and Commonwealth Games athletes together with the stars of the future.

“Have our patron attend is not only an honour for BUCS and the University of Nottingham as hosts, but for the students and teams competing.”

University of Nottingham team results

The University of Nottingham — with 11 teams competing in the finals, with six of those in the Championship competition — made the most of the home advantage and the huge Green and Gold crowd got behind them to achieve the following successes:

• Women’s Squash Championship winners
• Men’s Table Tennis Championship winners
• Women’s Squash Trophy winners
• Men’s Squash Trophy winners
• Men’s Table Tennis Trophy winners
• Men’s Table Tennis Trophy winners
• Men’s Water Polo Trophy winners

Director of Sport at the University Dan Tilley, said: “University of Nottingham Sport were absolutely delighted to host the BUCS Big Wednesday event yesterday and to be able to showcase the fantastic facilities we have here at the University of Nottingham.”

“It’s a huge advantage for our sports teams to be able to compete in a finals on home soil and the thousands of fans that came to watch made the atmosphere electric. We’re very proud of all our athletes who competed today and with seven gold medals from 11 finals, they’ve exceeded our ambitious performance targets this year!”

All proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to the Official Charity Partner the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre and the event organisers hope to have raised thousands of pounds.

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