March 7, 2018, by Kate Rothery
#GreenandGold Match in Focus: Wednesday 7 March
It’s now just two weeks to go until British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Big Wednesday – the UK’s largest team sport event for students – heads to University of Nottingham. With the knockout stages getting to the final stages – there’s some huge games across the country today as teams vie to make the National Championship gold medal match.
This week’s #GreenandGold Match in Focus puts the spotlight on the University of Nottingham Men’s Squash 1st team. The squad face University of Birmingham today in the semi-finals of the Championship Cup and will be gunning for a spot in a home final on March 21.
Starting at 4pm at David Ross Sports Village – join us at the game and bring the #GreenandGold home advantage – details on our Facebook event here!
Can’t make it to the game? Don’t worry – URN radio will be covering the game live on their Twitter channel – followed by a highlights reel on their weekly show.
Spectators coming to watch can also enjoy the Women’s semi-final on the other courts, where they face Northumbria 1st at 4pm, also for a spot in the BUCS Big Wednesday finals. Hopefully a straight Coline Aumard and Club President Libby Corke to safely see them through.
Pre-match preview:
How the teams line up:
- Adam Auckland vs Jan van den Herrewegen
- Owain Taylor vs Stuart MacGregor
- Matt Broadberry vs Paddy Harrison
- Tom Bailey v Michael Mattimore
- Ollie Holland vs Jonny Camfield
University of Nottingham go into the match as narrow favourites – they sit just above Birmingham in the league and have won at their last two meetings, albeit by a tight 3-2 overall score line both times. In fact the UoN team have lost just four of their last 20 league matches, with all of these defeats at the hands of defending champions UWE who have dominated the leagues for the past few seasons.
In the top seed match up, Adam Auckland should be feeling confident after knocking out 2016 individual champion van den Herrewegen in this year’s singles championships in a shock defeat, going on then to win a bronze medal in the Men’s A grade. However the Belgian international cannot be written off – he’s currently ranked 72nd in the world, whereas Auckland’s return from injury leaves him still outside the top 200. It’s sure to be an extremely tight and high quality game that could go either way.
Captain Owain Taylor is also on form, finishing 5th in the BUCS Individual A Grade competition in December– in which competition he defeated today’s opponent Stuart MacGregor comfortably in straight sets 11-7, 11-8, 11-3. He’ll be hoping his experience at last year’s final will stand him in good stead in a drive to lead his team to a third consecutive final.
Third seed Matt Broadberry is fresh off his first 2017/18 Premier Squash League appearance this year as well as several international events so won’t be fazed by the crowds heading to David Ross Sports Village today. Tom Bailey and Ollie Holland also both finished above Mattimore and Camfield in the individual event just a few months ago – with Bailey winning the gold medal – so the #GreenandGold fans will hope these games will go as predicted.
A win in this match will see UoN squash through to the BUCS Championship final, played at David Ross Sports Village on 21 March as part of the BUCS Big Wednesday event. They’ll face either UWE or Imperial, who also play today, but at the earlier time of 1pm.
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Tickets are now on sale for the BUCS Big Wednesday event on 21 March – proceeds from tickets sales to University of Nottingham staff and students go to University of Nottingham Sport’s Official Charity – the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre (CBTRC).
Find out more and get your ticket online here.
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