Varsity Action: The best of last weekend’s action

How is Cambridge doing in the struggle against the dark side?

Cambridge dark blues Lacrosse light blues Netball Oxford Sport table tennis Varsity

Last weekend saw Cambridge context with the dark blues in 48 matches, which has left Oxf*rd only just ahead. While Oxf*rd has won 24 of the matches, the light blues have fought back, winning 23, with only one draw. In rugby fives and real tennis, Cambridge has thrashed the other side, winning both men’s and women’s matches.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse has been mostly successful this year, with the women’s team thrashing their opponents and the men coming up against strong opposition. The women went in hoping for a double win and achieved this. The first team thrashed their Oxford counterparts 7-3, a great victory.

The men’s team didn’t fare so well, being beaten by Oxford’s experienced team 7-4. The mixed team knew their match “could be tight”. They had recently been narrowly beaten in a friendly against Oxford. Yet they went in with courage, keeping the score level at first, which led to a “golden goal” situation. In a stunning victory, the light blues beat the other side, ending with the score 11-10.

Table Tennis

Table tennis provided a set of dramatic matches for sports fans. The tension was high before the match. The Cambridge men’s winning streak seemed to be threatened by the loss of several original team members. The Oxford team had been strengthened by BUCS veteran Michael Hahn, who had defeated top seeds as the 2015 BUCS men’s doubles.

An extremely close set of matches followed, with skilful performances from players Marco Wong, Hampton Tao, Henry Liew and Drago Plecko. When the singles matches ended with a 4-4 score, the team knew they had to win both their matches to retain their winning streak. When the first doubles match was won by Oxford, it looked like all was over, but Wong and Tao fought back in the final match, defeating the enemy. The Cambridge men’s firsts maintain their unbeaten streak, with a 5-5 draw.

The women’s team were even more successful. Led by BUCS veteran and experienced Varsity player Jessy Zhou, they glided through their matches 10-0. This included merciless 3-0 wins from second seed Bijun Tang.

Netball

There has been some astonishing play from the netball teams, with a mix of results. The Jays (Seconds) played impressively, with great shooting by GS Emily Elliot. After a strong 2-0 start, they coolly played their way to a 53-28 victory.

The swallows didn’t have such good luck. Matched against a team with a tough defense and a strong GS, they found themselves 28-8 down in the third quarter. Despite fighting their way back to 36-16 at one point, the Swallows were eventually beaten 41-19 by the other side.

The blues had a particularly tense match. They started strongly, leading 13-8 by the end of the first quarter. By the second quarter, Oxford was fighting back, bringing the score to 19-19 by half time. With three minutes to go, the score was still level at 34-34, before the victory was finally taken by Oxford in the last few minutes.

Women’s Sport

Female blues have done especially well in the struggle against the dark side, winning 11 out of their 20 matches. In particular, the Rugby Union Football match led to a stunning 52-0 victory, and real tennis 5-1. In mixed sport too, the light blues have won 7/7 matches, thrashing the dark side in Korfball (22-10) and defeating them in Small Bore Rifle (1515-1462).

Varsity matches continue this week and over the weekend. Thanks to Oliver Robinson for the Lacrosse photos. Well done light blues: keep up the good work!