March 17, 2017, by Lindsay Hall
BUCS Big Wednesday team in focus: Table Tennis
This week sees the culmination of this year’s British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) leagues in the team Championship finals aka #BigBUCSWednesday – and we have more teams than ever fighting it out to be crowned BUCS champion!
The finals, which will be taking place at the University of Bath on Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March, will see the University of Nottingham represented across 9 different sports in both the Championship and Trophy finals. And whilst teams are busy with last minute preparations, we managed to speak to some of the captains to see how they’re feeling.
First up is Liam McTiernan from the table tennis team;
What are the teams thoughts on heading to Big BUCS Wednesday?
“We are all very excited to be heading to Bath for the event, it will be an extra special day as our men’s first and woman’s first teams will be playing side-by-side to lift the BUCS Cup. Personally, this will be my last Big BUCS Wednesday Championship Cup final, after playing in the last two, it will be a momentous occasion for everyone involved.”
How are the teams expected to perform?
“This will be the third time in a row that UoN men’s first team have played Nottingham Trent’s men’s first in the final, we have beaten them the last two years and expect to lift the Cup for the third time, having already beaten them comfortably twice this season in the league. For the woman, they have new opposition, Durham, it should be an interesting match, however I believe all bets will be placed on a secure UoN win.”
Do you have any new players or individual BUCS champions in the squad?
“The men’s first team features commonwealth bronze medallist Danny Reed, who has played a vital role in the team and for UoN this year, having won the BUCS men’s individual singles. The woman’s first team also has a new player, Jenny Liu, who is undefeated this year and also won the women’s BUCS individual singles, as well as UK National seniors champion Maria Tsaptsinos.”
What are the teams doing this week prepare?
“Both teams will be attending strength and conditioning sessions, whilst also training five times during the week, including intense one-to-one training sessions with our head coach and Olympian Kelly Sibley. Most of the training will involve match practice, as this is a vital component of the preparation for the finals.”
Do the team have any rituals just before they step out?
“We don’t necessarily have team rituals, I think it’s more about keeping ourselves composed in every match and not to get complacent against teams that we are strong favourites against. In previous years, the support that everyone gives each other, on the day during play, has played a large role and the same Green and Gold passion will undoubtedly be shown again.”
We’ll certainly be watching the team closely and will be covering the action across both days via our social media channels @UoNSport, so you can keep up to date with how our teams are doing. Don’t forget to show your support using #GreenandGold!
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