National Championship

Women's 1st vs. Loughborough 1st | FINAL SCORE: 3-5 

Loughborough win a close affair to become National Champions, with Nottingham finishing runners-up.

The fixture was a thrilling display of athleticism and skill. From start to finish, the six University of Nottingham players showcased their confidence and determination, making for an incredibly high-energy and intense competition. Going into the final round of doubles, there was nothing between the teams at 3 rubbers each. With the first doubles match up going Loughborough's way 0-2, Sian Kelly and Susanna Ogden fought hard to keep UoN in the hunt for gold, but couldn't hold onto the game, losing 1-2 in a tight contest. 

Head coach Martyn Lewis told us; "I'm really proud of how hard the team fought today. This is invaluable experience for them with lots of lessons which can be used fine-tune their training sessions in preparation for upcoming fixtures."

📽 You can re-watch all of the Badminton National Championship action through BUCS TV here.

National Trophy

Women's 1st vs. Cardiff 1st | FINAL SCORE: 101-55

National Trophy Winners! 🏆

Dedication, hard play and strong teamwork came together for our Women's basketball squad to produce a comprehensive 101-55 victory over Cardiff. After a slightly slower start, soon the game picked up and Nottingham were running the floor. After a first round knockout in 2022, the win marks an unforgettable comeback season this year.

UoN Women’s Basketball Vice Captain Charlotte Redhead emphasised, “We didn’t have our full 12 players but the hard work of each of the team members meant we easily overcome the challenges. This is an excellent win and we’re really happy with the result!!”

National Championship

Women's 1st vs. Edinburgh 1st | FINAL SCORE 124 - 135 

University of Nottingham's fencers were hoping to go one better than last year as they once again qualified for a Championship final on home soil. This year, it was a close call between the two teams - both were one-a-piece in the main season. 

In the Sabre, the Green and Gold fencers got off to a flying start. However, it wasn't long before Edinburgh shook off their travel legs and it was the visitors who secured a narrow lead in the first weapon. Despite a strong performance in the Foil, Nottingham failed to catch Edinburgh and left themselves an uphill battle in the final contest - the Epee.  

Despite a valiant effort in the penultimate match up, Eda Onay couldn't quite hold off the Edinburgh march as they secured the 39 points total required to close out the championship gold. Captain Rachael Lever was left to finish off the fixture knowing the gold was already out of reach. 

Captain Rachael Lever commented; 

"I'm so proud of my team mates - we've come such a long way. Last season was our first final and this year we've been extremely competitive and performed so well. With new faces set to join us next year, we already can't wait for next season and hopefully going one better to secure the Championship gold in 2024!"

National Championship

Women's 1st vs. Loughborough 1st | FINAL SCORE: 6-0

National Champions! 🏆

An incredible first half performance from Nottingham sees them hit Loughborough for five, before adding another in the second half to secure their status as National Champions!

📽 You can catch all of the Women's Football National Championship action through BUCS TV here.

National Championship

Women's 1st vs. Exeter 1st | FULL-TIME SCORE: 3-2

National Champions! 🏆

The women are warmed up and ready to defend their National Championships down at the hockey centre Hockey Centre. A competitive first quarter with great play from both sides but the score remained 0-0 going into the second quarter.

A fantastic start to the second quarter saw Nottingham win a penalty flick from a PCA. Jordan Homman stepped up and calmly slotted the ball past the Exeter keeper giving the #GreeandGold a 1-0 lead.

Nottingham are put on a show in front of a sold-out crowd here at the Hockey Centre and some excellent small unit play saw Claudia Swain find the back of the net, making it 2-0 to the #GreenandGold at the half-time break.

It's end to end play in the third quarter, with both teams creating chances in a thrilling period of play. However it was Exeter who able to hit the backboard after a well worked PCA routine. The score is 2-1 was into the final quarter.

We were watching some incredible hockey from both sides but it was Nottingham who fire one home from a short corner through Jordan Homman to extend their lead to 3-1. But Exeter responded in style finding the back of the net shortly after, taking the score to 3-2.

Nottingham were able to stay calm under the pressure of the remaining few minutes and to claim the deserved victory 3-2, giving the #GreenandGold the back-to-back National Championship title!

Men's 1st vs. Loughborough 1st | FULL-TIME SCORE: 4-3

National Champions! 🏆

The Men's 1s took to the pitch, looking to avenge last years result against their 2023 opponents. The crowds were roaring and the scene was set for what was bound to be a thriller! Really good hockey was seen from both sides, with a Nottingham goal followed quickly after by a Loughborough drag to make it even at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter produced some fast paced and exciting hockey from both sides but Loughborough struck first to take the lead. Nottingham did not stay behind for long as they responded in the best way possible, by smashing the ball into the back of the net, which took the score to 2-2 at half-time.

Nottingham came out firing in the second half and and posed a real threat in attack, but Loughborough were able to build a bit of momentum which ended in them slotting the ball past the UoN keeper, taking the score to 2-3.

The #GreeandGold continued to pile on the pressure but a fantastic save by the Loughborough goalie from a PCA kept the score at 2-3.

What a final 10 minutes! Nottingham were awarded a penalty flick and absolutely roofed the ball to get the equaliser which took the score to 3-3. But the #GreenandGold were not finished yet... up steps Max Anderson who fired it home to give UoN the lead in the final minute!

Nottingham came away with a huge victory and are crowned National Champions at the waterbase after an unforgettable battle!

📽 You can catch-up on all of the Women's Hockey National Championship action through BUCS TV here, and the Men's Hockey National Championship fixture here.

National Vase

Men's 2s vs. Edinburgh | FULL-TIME SCORE: 2-2 (2-4 in shootout)

The Men's 2's got underway at Nottingham Hockey Centre against Edinburgh, and were playing some calm and composed hockey in the opening minutes. A quick break from Nottingham and a hard drive along the base line saw the #GreenandGold find the back of the net, only 3 mins in! 1-0 Nottingham.

The momentum continued to build throughout the first quarter and it didn't take long for UoN to convert one of their attacks into their second goal! The #GreenandGold were a wall in defence and even with a Edinburgh PCA in the final minutes of the half, Nottingham were able to maintain their 2-goal lead.

Some strong defensive play from Nottingham ensured the #GreenandGold kept a clean sheet going into the final quarter.

Nottingham were looking threatening in the attack but after a turnover, Edinburgh were able to counter fast and bring one back, which took the score to 2-1. Edinburgh gained momentum and managed to put the ball away from a PCA taking the score to 2-2 with only 3 minutes remaining on the clock.

There was nothing to separate the two teams at the end of the final quarter, so the game was taken to a penalty shootout.

Despite some great play throughout the game from Nottingham, Edinburgh took the win in the BUCS Big Wednesday Trophy Final from the penalty shoot out.

National Championship

Women's 1st vs. Exeter 1st | FINAL SCORE: 11-6

National Champions! 🏆

Hoping to emulate what the Ladies 2's did in the morning, the Ladies 1's took on Exeter to defend their National Championship. It was a competitive first quarter with great play from both sides but the #GreenandGold went 2-0 up going into the second quarter. A fantastic start to the second quarter saw the #GreenandGold bang out two more goals just before Exeter fire back and end the second quarter 4-2.

Soon after the second half started, Nottingham and Exeter exchanged plenty of goals on target but remained a tight third quarter with the scores going 5-3, 6-3, 6-4, 7-4, 7-5.

The last quarter started - and bang, it was 8-5 to Nottingham. The squad then turned up the gears. 9-5... 10-5... 11-5... and then a full time whistle was heard.

THE #GREENANDGOLD ARE BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS!

Men's 1st vs. Nottingham Trent 1st | FINAL SCORE: 5-8

The men's final started physically from both teams before NTU made the most of their early territory to lead 2-0 in the first quarter, before UoN grew into the game and took advantage of an NTU offside to get on the board. A close quarter ended 2-3 to NTU, but taking momentum from the end of the first quarter, Nottingham hit the net first in the second to make it 3-3.

A tense period was then broken by an NTU breakthrough but Nottingham continued to fight and put the pressure on, but there was no way past the eventual man-of-the-match in the Trent goal. However an NTU penalty allowed Nottingham to go into the break event at 4-4. However, the second half would see the opposition take their chances, whilst NTU's goal was kept relatively clean by their keeper, with a 6-4 score to NTU at the end of the third. The pivotal first goal in the last period went the way of eventual champions Trent, who took the win 8-5.

📽 You can catch all of the Women's Lacrosse National Championship action through BUCS TV here, and the Men's Lacrosse National Championship fixture here.

National Trophy

Women's 2nd vs. Exeter 2nd | FINAL SCORE: 16-4

National Trophy Winners! 🏆

In a poignant fixture, University of Nottingham Women's Lacrosse 2nd team have won the 2023 BUCS National Trophy!

A series of early goals set the tone for the rest of the game with the team scoring an impressive 16 goals against Exeter’s four.

The team had an impressive #RoadtoNottingham, facing a number of competitive sides so their win marks the end of an incredible season. To top it off, UoN goalkeeper Sienna Parekh was awarded MVP of the game!

We caught up with captain Violet Cairns, ’We have put countless hours and work into this game and spent so much time together all year. It’s the best we’ve played as a team and we’re all over the moon to have won!’

National Trophy

Men's 1st vs. UCLan 1st | FINAL SCORE: 24-28

The first match of the day is underway at Highfields Sports Complex and sees the #GreenandGold aiming for National Trophy glory, but it would be UCLan who took the early initiative. However, Nottingham fought back just before half time to draw level at 12-12.

In the second half UCLan once again start the half quickly and take the lead again, before another fightback from the #GreenandGold to take it right to the wire in the final moments. Unfortunately UCLan manage to hold on and take the win 28-24.

It was end-to-end drama with heartbreak at the end. However, the boys in #GreenandGold fought until the very end.

📽 You can catch a replay of the the Rugby League National Trophy Final through BUCS TV here.

National Trophy

Men's 2nd vs. UWE 2nd | FINAL SCORE: 2-3

Despite racing into a 2-0 lead, our men's 2nd team fell agonisingly short in the trophy final at BUCS Big Wednesday to lose 3-2 to UWE. 

The men’s 2s started strong, with Josh Perkins facing his junior rival, Alfie Laws, winning 3-1. This is Josh’s second win against Alfie after winning in the BUCS individuals final in 2022. Some impressive games from Conrad Yeung resulted in his winning 3-2.

Despite some closely contested games, Tom Watkins and Isaac Green lost their matches 0-3 and 1-3, respectively.

It was all down to a close final match between Sam Gibbon and Mateusz Marcinkowski, but Sam lost his game 3-0. After some hard work and excellent play, UoN ultimately came runners up, with a final score of 2-3.

Women's 2nd vs. Imperial 1st | FINAL SCORE: 4-0

National Trophy Winners! 🏆

The #GreenAndGold had their first win of the day by Aly Martin, winning 3-0 against her Imperial rival.

Women’s captain Alex Bardac then won her match 3-1. This was closely followed by a 3-0 win from Chloe Chieng against Brenda Li, bringing the women to a 3-0 lead.

Some incredible play from Anya Shah, winning 3-0, crowned the women’s team National Trophy Champions at 4-0!

We spoke to the Women’s Captain, Alexandra Bardac, “It was a great team effort and we had some great support from the club which really gave us an edge to dominate all the matches, and I am very proud of the performance of the team, not just for this final but throughout the season.”

University of Nottingham Squash take the first Trophy match of BUCS Big Wednesday 2023 as the Women's 2nd team beat Imperial 4-0 with a fantastic showing on the David Ross Sports Village courts!

National Championship

Women's 1st vs. UCL 1st | FINAL SCORE: 5-0

National Champions! 🏆

A supremely confident display from BUCS Individual Champion Annie Jiaqi Meng and Denise Payet, who alongside Annie took the BUCS Women's doubles medal home earlier this season. The pair breezed past the UCL side, winning both their first two singles games quickly 2-0. The doubles match up saw only a minor wobble, as they lost their first (and only set) but after a quick team talk with head coach Kelly Sibley, Payet and Meng came back very determined, racing quickly to match point and securing their title at the first time of asking. Playing the fixture out, they won their opposing singles match ups to register a final score of 5-0.

Denise told us after the game; "This has topped off a perfect season and my last game for the University of Nottingham. This is my first Championship team title and I really enjoyed today and playing alongside Annie. We felt confident, we were playing well and we're delighted with the 5-0 score line."

Men's 1st vs. Nottingham Trent 1st | FINAL SCORE: 10-4

National Champions! 🏆

University of Nottingham Men's Table Tennis first team stepped up to match the achievements of the Women's side to claim a fantastic 10-4 win, ensuring a double championship day for University of Nottingham Table Tennis club!

Playing local rivals Nottingham Trent, and without their number 1 Shayan Siraj missing out due to injury, the Men's side had perhaps a tougher match up. As the favourites, they looked very confident however, and were quickly up to 8-2 (with the winners being the first squad to nine). With one match up left on court, all eyes were on in-form Sam Kwan, who'd moved up from the second team for the final, but despite saving one match point, his NTU opponent converted his second opportunity and the players all once again returned to the tables - 8-3 to UoN. The Green and Gold needed just one more victory and it was Naphat Boonyaprapa who secured the Championship title with a 3-1 finish in his rubber. First year student James Skelton quickly added his score, with the final tally 10-4 to the University of Nottingham.

Captain James Pelc, who along with Kwan and Boonyaprapa had been part of last year's Trophy winning side, was delighted with the result; "We felt confident after winning the league, but we knew we'd have to work hard against NTU with Shayan out for today. It's a fantastic feeling being Championship winners and the top University team - I'm really proud to have been part of this performance with my team mates."

📽 You can watch all of the Table Tennis National Championship action again through BUCS TV here.

National Trophy

Women's 2nd vs. Imperial 1st | FINAL SCORE: 5-0

National Trophy Winners! 🏆

Women’s Table Tennis 2s have become our first BUCS Big Wednesday gold medallists with a comprehensive win over Imperial. Jasmin Wong and Judy Yat Poon didn’t drop a single set on their way to a 5-0 overall victory in the Women’s trophy, playing with confidence and overwhelming their opponents with their placement and speed. 

National Trophy

Women's 2nd vs. Loughborough 2nd | FINAL SCORE: 3-0

Trophy Winners! 🏆

Doubles 1 final score: UoN 2-0 Loughborough (WIN)

After a tough start against Loughborough in the first pair doubles, the #GreenandGold fired back to win 6 games in a row, taking the first set to 6-3. Maisie and Emma fought hard to take in the thrilling third set and secure a win for Nottingham.

Doubles 2 final score: UoN 2-0 Loughborough (WIN)

Despite a nervous start from Nottingham, the pairing showed their prowess to take 6 games in a row. A comfortable win for Anisha and Issy secured their first win of the day.

Singles score

The singles fixtures took place at Nottingham Tennis Centre and Anisha, Maisie and Issy all stepped up and delivered the victory for Nottingham! 

Summary

A superb BUCS Big Wednesday 2023 fixture where every single match counted and the result came down to the wire. The team showed a lot of resilience and dug deep to get the thoroughly deserved win against a strong Loughborough team 🏆

National Championship

Women's 1st vs. Durham 1st | FINAL SCORE: 0-3

University of Nottingham women were backed by a noisy crowd in their first National Championship final for the women's arm of the club, It was a tough draw - defending champions Durham are unbeatable in the BUCS season this year and Nottingham were in fact the only University side to have taken a set off the visitors.

Durham looked on from from the get go - winning the first set with a comfortable cushion throughout.  Nottingham had some moments of brilliance, much to the delight of the crowd but ultimately missed out 11-25. Despite Nottingham continuing their excellent play and determination, Durham took a 2-0 lead after an equally strong second set, again winning comfortably and pinning Nottingham back to 11.

In the third set, Nottingham came out looking determined and really came alive to show their crowd just how they'd earnt their place in this final. Captain Jess Tasker and opposite player Martina Van Gorp both scored with aggressive attacks and the the team's block was having more success shutting out the Durham attack. However, it wasn't quite enough and Durham won the set 25-19 to once again be crowned national champions. 

Co-captain Abby Hogan reflected on her past four years of being in the team; “Obviously we have faced Durham 5 times before, and we just wanted to come in and enjoy it. A lot of these girls are in their last year, and we’ve played together for four year we said we wanted to just come in and enjoy it and have a good performance and I think we did that.” 

Fellow captain Jess Tasker added her thanks for the crowd;  “This environment is great, and we are so grateful for it! We were saying in one of the team talks that even when we were mid-point – just hearing the crowd cheer for us was such a good feeling! Obviously, Durham had a solid win, but they are a very good team so that win was well deserved.”

National Championship

Women's 1st vs. Durham 1st | FINAL SCORE: 11-14

University of Nottingham Women’s 1s played a thrilling game against Durham in the National Championship final, but it was Durham who came out on top with a score of 14-11.

UoN put in an excellent performance and created plenty of chances, putting up a strong fight against Durham! The score was close throughout with only a few goals separating the two sides at any point.

The UoN Women’s team only won the national trophy at BUCS Big Wednesday in 2022 so were really pleased to make it to the championship final this year!