Sunday 1st March presented a big opportunity for the Cambridge University Table Tennis Club (CUTTC) in the form of their Varsity match against Oxford University, hosted at the Cambridge University Sports Centre. With the previous year’s competition resulting in a win for the Cambridge Women’s First Team and a tightly-fought draw for the Men’s First Team, but unfortunate losses for the Men’s Second and Third Teams, as well as the Women’s Second Team, Cambridge, were back with a vengeance in 2025, hoping to better the outcome for every single side.

Cambridge came into this year’s Varsity off the back of an excellent BUCS season, undefeated in their division of the BUCS league. The Men’s First Team was also the recipient of several fresh faces who each delivered stellar performances at the BUCS Individuals competition back in November, with the first and third seeds (Joseph Hee and Aniket Bhanushali respectively) making the top 32 in the country, and fourth seed William Saint winning the plate competition. This, along with the depth and experience of the other men’s and women’s teams, made the chances of a Cambridge win very promising. And promising they were - an overall win from every team except the Women’s Seconds meant that Cambridge emerged emphatically triumphant, and redemption was secured.

“Cambridge emerged emphatically triumphant”

The day began early in the Sports Centre studios with the Men’s Third Team matches, with spectators anxiously gathered around the four playing tables in the middle. The singles matches felt like a yo-yo, with Cambridge winning one followed by Oxford taking the next, meaning that the score was tied at 4–4 after the completion of all eight singles games, making the following doubles matches the deciders. The strength of the doubles partnerships shone through with both pairs emerging triumphant, resulting in a 6–4 win for the team, and an end to CUTTC President Thomas Chen’s self-proclaimed “Varsity losing streak” of six matches across his years playing against Oxford.

Next were the Women’s Second Team matches, though, unlike the rest of the teams, the Women’s Seconds only consisted of two players, making each match all the more important. The start was optimistic, with first seed Milly Kotecha initially going one set down, but then making a comeback to win the match 3–1 overall. However, the remaining encounters didn’t see as much success, and despite a tightly contested doubles match with Cambridge just marginally losing two of the sets 9-11, the overall result was 4–1 to Oxford. Nevertheless, considering the inaugural Varsity for the Women’s Seconds was only last year, the team was very proud to have improved on their previous result.

After lunch, it was the turn of the men’s seconds, who were hungry for revenge after a 10-0 defeat in 2024. These clashes brought some of the most thrilling moments of the whole day. First seed Rayaan Asghar played an unrelenting second set in his first match, fighting all the way, but unfortunately succumbing 24–22 – with his opponent grazing the net in the final point of the set. Despite this he still managed to come out on top in the match, beating his opponent 3-1. His second win of the afternoon led the team to a comfortable victory before the doubles matches had even been played, and an overall 6-4 win for the Men’s Seconds meant that they successfully completed their remarkable comeback journey.

“The disappointment of last year was channelled into a truly exhilarating day of table tennis at the Sports Centre”

The penultimate round of matches was the Women’s First Team. Having won 8-2 in last year’s showdown, and with it being first seed Charlotte Bardsley’s final Varsity after leading the team valiantly for three years, all the momentum was behind them. All four team members played powerfully, only dropping two matches out of the eight singles fixtures, and five out of the six were won 3–0. They carried this victorious energy through to the doubles, wherein both doubles pairs prevailed, and Bardsley ended her Varsity career triumphant in every one of her games this year.

As evening fell and most of the players had completed their matches, it was time for the Men’s First team. After a draw last year, the Men’s Firsts were determined to convert that result into a victory. Third seed Bhanushali set the standard, winning his first match in tightly fought sets (11–6, 11–9, 11–9), and first seed Hee immediately matched him with a victory of his own. Captain Nicholas Miller had a nail-biting match against Oxford’s first seed, winning his first two sets, but then sadly losing the next three. However, he quickly turned this around in his second match, not only beating their second seed 3–0 but sweeping the second set within that 11–1. Going into the doubles matches 5–3, the Firsts knew they had to win at least one to vanquish Oxford. Indeed, they won not just one but both of the doubles clashes, leaving Hee and Bhanushsali undefeated and sealing an overall 7–3 triumph for the Men’s Firsts.

It was an incredibly uplifting day for CUTTC and the Light Blues – the disappointment of last year was channelled into a truly exhilarating day of table tennis at the Sports Centre. High on adrenaline, celebrations continued all the way to the Tivoli for a much-deserved team dinner. With several long-standing members of the club graduating this year, there could not have been a more fitting way for them to end their Varsity careers.