Sydney University athletes finished with two gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the Eastern University Games, which were held in Canberra last week.
Gold medals came Sydney University’s way in women’s basketball and women’s volleyball, while the ultimate Frisbee team secured a silver medal and handball and men’s tennis teams won bronze medals.
Tristan Liles, Sydney University Sport and Fitness’s Club Development and Australian University Sport Co-ordinator, reports from the Games:
Basketball
Day 1: Both our men’s and women’s teams went into the competition with heightened anticipation. SUSF men are the defending EUG champions and our women are the current AUG champions. Both teams have their share of talent with Jaimee Kennedy (Flames) and Kristen Barnes (previously Flames) for the women and Kevin White (Sydney Kings) for the men.
Both teams impressed on the opening day with convincing victories even if it didn’t show on the scoreboard. The women got the job done with one big win and two tight victories. The men were in much the same boat with one comprehensive score and the second a tighter affair. Gold medal matches are destined for both teams.
Day 2: Both the men and women continued to impress as both teams notched up solid victories. The men had a hard-fought win over ACPE in a nail-bitter. The women did it a little easier with two comfortable wins over UC and our friends at Cumbo.
Day 3: The men were first up with a quarter-final against Cumbo. It was a very lopsided game in our favour and set up a semi-final against Charles Sturt University on Thursday.
The women played their semi-final against the old enemy UNSW. We were leading by more than 20 after the first quarter, then UNSW staged a fightback to get within two in the third. Our girls held onto the lead and eventually took the win 54-45.
Special mention goes to Kristen Barnes who was mechanical from the free throw line under extreme crowd disturbance, thanks to the UNSW men’s team. And also to Jaimee Kennedy, who put her body on the line, throwing herself into every contest and copping an elbow the check for her trouble.
Day 4: The men kicked the day off with their semi-final against CSU. Our boys were pumped to go back to back EUG champions, however CSU had other ideas. It was tight for most of the game with USYD getting out to an eight-point lead at one stage, before CSU cranked it up a gear.
The two sides traded shots in the last quarter and in a tense final two minutes the CSU boys held onto to the slimmest of margins to gain their spot in the final. Kevin White received six stiches to his eye for his troubles, which meant he missed the bronze medal play-off. UTS were far more determined to capture the win and ran away with it in the last quarter. Our boys finished fourth.
The women simply had one gold medal play-off match today against Macquarie University. Our girls were in sensational form all week and continued this run with a strong performance in the final. They out-played and out-muscled the Mac Uni girls to gain what has rightfully been theirs the whole week, gold!
Futsal
Day 1: A new addition to the USYD team, they had three games on opening day and came up with three losses. The worst of the losses was against a New Zealand university (Massey University) in the first game of the day – 13-3. The boys have shown great spirit and will be sure to come out firing in Tuesday’s games.
Day 2: Our boys took it to another level today. They had their first win and a tense loss to CIT. The boys are enjoying their first University Games and are doing the university proud
Day 3: The men notched another win – 6-3 over University of Western Sydney. They have fought valiantly and will look to build on their performance in 2012.
Day 4: Our futsal boys have been going from strength to strength this week and finished with their best results today. Their last game of the day was a 10-1 drubbing of UWS to seal 9th spot. The boys have already booked their tickets to Tamworth for the EUGs in 2012.
Handball
Day 1: With only three teams in the comp we have already achieved a bronze medal at worst. That is actually where we are heading with two games and two losses!
Day 2: Our first medal of the games. A bronze to our handball team. Although there were only three teams in the draw our team showed fantastic enthusiasm and played with great sportsmanship
Lawn Bowls
Day 1: USYD sent three teams to Canberra, giving the greens a working over. Only one of the teams remained without a win on Day 1 something they will all have a lot of time to think about whilst playing on Tuesday.
Day 2: The bowlers had to battle the freezing, windy and wet conditions. The three teams are improving each day and feel as though they might be pulling out some big upsets very soon.
Day 4: Our bowlers really had to bear the brunt of the poor weather today. And it showed on the scoreboard. We won one game out of seven. Let’s hope the weather is a little kinder tomorrow.
Day 5: The three teams were probably thinking they should have chosen an indoor sport considering the weather we have had. They did persevere, however, with a great attitude and committed game. Two of our teams played off for 9th and 10th spots today, while the third team were involved in the 15th-16th playoff, which they drew!
Tennis
Day 1: Our sole player, Raphael Chan, had one win and one loss today. He is confident that quarter-finals are a shoe-in. Let’s hope the rain stays away and allows him to continue on his way.
Day 2: Raphael managed to top his pool today. He had two convincing wins and ended up in a three-way tie for top spot. On a countback of games won, it came down to Raphael and one other. It then went to a coin toss to decide who would top the group. I happened to select heads correctly to send Raphael to the top of the group. What a team.
Day 3: Raphael unfortunately went down in his semi-final today. He now will head to the bronze medal play-off tomorrow.
Day 4: Raphael ‘Rafa’ Chan walked away with a bronze medal in his first University Games in Australia. He went down to the eventual champion in his morning semi-final, but then regathered and dominated the bronze medal match 8-3.
Touch
Day 1: Two mixed teams competed for USYD. Both teams had two wins and one loss today. The touch teams are a tight unit and will be out to support each other in tomorrow’s games.
Day 2: USYD 1 had a carbon copy day to yesterday with two wins and a loss. They are sitting in a good position for the medal play-offs. USYD 2 also had two wins and a loss today which again puts them in a good position for the medal play-offs.
Day 3: With two mixed touch teams in Canberra, of course it was going to come down to a play-off between the two. With good wins by both teams today they will now face off in the 5th-6th play-off tomorrow. This might be enough to hand them qualification to AUGs in September.
Day 4: The spot up for grabs was 5th-6th. The game was a good way to finish the week for the two sides, who played the game with an extremely social attitude. It finished 6-all. Finishing equal 5th may just give the mixed touch team a qualification ticket to AUGs.
Squash
Day 1: We had four players flying the USYD flag in Canberra – all with mixed results. A few good wins for the team on a tough first day in the white room.
Day 2: Led by Warren Oaks, our squash athletes are no easybeats. Warren had a couple of good wins today with the other three men taking each game to the limit.
Day 3: The boys have had a great week at their first University Games and performed extremely well. Our highest place player will be in the 7th and 8th play-off on Thursday.
Day 4: They boys ended up taking 7th, 8th, 9th and 13th places.
Ultimate Frisbee
Day 1: For the first time in many years USYD had two Ultimate teams – one full-strength squad and one development squad. Both teams recorded two wins with the development squad squeaking through their second with a 6-4 victory.
Day 2: In what were horrible conditions for Ultimate Frisbee, our two sides battled on for limited success. USYD were dominant in their 15-2 win over CSU but were upset by a strong ANU side 8-11. USYD 2, our development squad, unfortunately went down in both their games.
Day 3: Our results went as expected today. Our top side finished the pool stage with just one defeat, which meant they topped their group. They will now play UNSW in the semi-final. Our development squad struggled today but are definitely showing great determination and enthusiasm.
Day 4: It has been a successful week for the ultimate frisbee teams. The development squad has gained some great experience – finishing 8th – while the first team played off for medals. They breezed through their semi-final 15-4 against UNSW but were pipped at the post by a very strong Macquarie University crew 10-6 in the final to finish with the silver medal.
Volleyball
Day 1: USYD women went in as Australian University Games champions. They played as such today with two thumping wins over UNSW and Newcastle. Our men had it both ways today, with a win and a loss, but definitely showing lots of positive signs.
Day 2: The women had one game today and made light work of it with a strong 3-0 win over ANU. The men had an up and down day. It started with a good win over Newcastle 3-0, but was spoilt by a loss to UNSW – 0-3.
Day 3: The girls did it easy today with a straight sets victory over Cumbo. It will be a major upset if they do not take the gold medal, No pressure! The men had a good win this morning over UNSW but came unstuck against UC. They still finished fourth and will now play in a semi-final against an undefeated ANU.
Day 4: The girls completed their whitewash of the tournament on Thursday with a straights sets victory over UNSW in the final. The girls didn’t lose a set all week and were clearly the standout team of the competition.
The boys had a much tougher draw and were taken down in a close semi-final by ANU 3-1. They then went into the bronze medal play-off match and were beaten in straight sets by UNSW. The boys were great to watch throughout the week and played with a fantastic attitude.
