The end of Michaelmas term is in sight and feelings of mental exhaustion are no doubt making themselves known. Yet Cambridge’s BUCS athletes have shunned signs of fatigue in their sporting endeavours, continuing to plough through opponents and notch up impressive wins in all sports last Wednesday (17/11).

CUBaC brush aside Leicester and Nottingham

In yet another unbeaten week for Cambridge University Badminton Club (CUBaC), the men’s side hosted Leicester Men’s 1 at the University Sports Centre, while the women’s team travelled north to face Nottingham Women’s 4, resulting in 7-1 and 3-5 victories respectively.

The men’s pair of James Pinder and Ye Gu kicked things off against Leicester’s Dheerendranadh Reddy Ramireddy and Hans Chong, earning a 2-0 win with 21-18 and 21-6 games. Cambridge’s Saket Koti and Dhuraisamy Balan then took to the court, beating Emmanuel Sali and Paul Defty in straight games but then falling short to Ramireddy and Chong in their second matchup. Pinder and Gu closed the doubles affair off with class after defeating Sali and Defty 21-12 and 21-8 to take the win.

Turning to the men’s singles, both Thomas Williams and Phol Wehaprasirtsak went unbeaten for the Blues to push the score up to 7-1, with the Cambridge players each besting Daniel Straw and Prudhvi Raj Mamidi to conclude the affair.

Up in Nottingham, Cambridge’s women found themselves in a slightly tighter battle, drawing the doubles matchup 2-2 before blitzing the hosts 1-3 in the singles matches to take an overall victory of 3-5.

CUAFC grab double victory away from home

Cambridge University Association Football Club (CUAFC) enjoyed the winning feeling in both of their Blues fixtures, with the men fighting for a 2-3 win over the University of East Anglia and the women storming to a 0-5 demolition job against Birmingham.

The men’s Blues initially found themselves 2-0 down to a lively UEA side before mounting their comeback through midfielder Reece Linney, who sent one steaming into the bottom left to make it 1-2. Shortly after, Cambridge levelled the tie following a brilliant solo run from winger Fortina Oshasha that ended in an impressive finish.

With just shy of ten minutes left on the clock, the talented Lumi Kanwei bagged a third to make it 2-3 to the visiting Blues, completing the turnaround and also sending CUAFC’s social media man into the opening of a sentimental ballad: “Dreams are being made in Norwich”.

Meanwhile, Captain Frances Steele’s side stamped complete authority onto their game against Birmingham. Erin Davies secured a hat-trick - reminiscent of her equally impressive outing at home to Worcester three weeks ago (27/10) - while Anna O’Leary and Molly Woods both got their names on the score sheet to make it a fabulous five.

Two wins from two for CURUFC

Both the Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club (CURUFC) Tigers (women’s second XV) and LXs (men’s second XV) secured solid victories over Nottingham Trent and Aston University respectively.

The Tigers fixture was played at the Queens’ College Sports Ground and saw a number of individuals make their debut in competitive rugby. Tries by Sammie Mason (Clare), Polly Hipkiss (Queens’), and Shannon Rai (St John’s) put Cambridge in a strong 15-0 position going into the half-time break.

Trent came out stronger in the second period of play, but were further pushed back to 20-0 by a Jamie Chen (St Catharine’s) try after a sequence of great support play that involved the likes of Rosie Lewis (Sidney Sussex). Another close range try, this time from Bethan Jones (Pembroke), allowed the Light Blues to extend their lead to 25-0 before Trent finally opened their scoring with a try and conversion.

Additional tries by Hipkiss and Buzz Gilks (St John’s), both converted by Hipkiss, ended the game at 39-14.

Later in the day, the LXs flattened Aston in a 45-11 victory at Grange Road. During the game, Cambridge managed to maintain their shape in both attack and defence, with impressive performances from Laurence Marwood (St Edmund’s) and Connor Collins (St Catharine’s) coming in the front row, while Alex Froud (Magdalene) and Harry Shaw (Downing) produced some strong carries.

Alex Wylie (Girton) was also able to demonstrate his pace and attacking sharpness on the left wing, as the LXs put on a dominant display to achieve the win.

CURUFC’s two victories serve to bolster excitement for the upcoming rugby in Cambridge. The women’s 88s fixture is set to take place this Tuesday (23/11) at Grange Road (7:30pm KO), in which spectators will be treated to a Varsity Match rehearsal as the women take on Oxford for the first time this season. On the following day (24/11), the annual Steele-Bodger match kicks off commence at 3pm. Varsity will provide coverage for both fixtures.

Further Cambridge success

On a Wednesday where the Light Blues secured more wins than losses overall, lacrosse, netball, ultimate, and volleyball all basked in their respective accomplishments.

Cambridge University Lacrosse Club (CULC) had an unbeaten day, with the men’s and women’s Blues defeating Warwick 6-7 and Cardiff 7-18 respectively, while the Kingies (women’s second team) were forced to settle for a 12-12 against Imperial.

Following on from last week’s (10/11) victory over Bedfordshire, Cambridge University Ladies Netball Club (CULNC) Jays beat Lincoln Women’s 1 by an impressive score of 51-18. The Blues triumphed over Loughborough Women’s 4 29-50, whereas the Swallows unfortunately came up short against Leicester Women’s 3 in a gruelling 44-39 loss.

Ultimate recorded their first victory of the season in an opening game against East Anglia Men’s 1, cruising to a 5-14 result. They are currently tied top of the Men’s Midlands Tier 2A division with Oxford, who they’ll face next Sunday (28/11) after hosting Anglia Ruskin Men’s 1 this Wednesday (24/11).

Last but not least, women’s volleyball attained wins with both their first and second teams. The Blues battled to a 2-3 victory over Bristol Women’s 1, in what proved to be a huge result after they had an early start, long trip, and were missing players. Meanwhile, the Seconds beat Birmingham City Women’s 1 by a score of 1-3 to round off Cambridge’s dominance on the court.

Varsity congratulates all of Cambridge’s clubs on their recent BUCS achievements.