The 2014 Eastern Uni Games (EUG) have come to a close and what a week it was.
On the final day of competition Sydney Uni had the men and women in the touch semi-finals, the men and women in the basketball semi-finals, the women’s netball team in the semi-finals, futsal women in the gold medal match and ultimate frisbee in the semifinals.
The women’s basketball started the day off perfectly, sending UNSW to the third place game and booking Sydney Uni a spot in the grand final. Earlier in the week, the Sydney Uni team lost a controversial one point game against Newcastle and the girls definitely wanted revenge. The game started well and although the game was close in score, the Sydney girls always looked in control. In the third quarter the girls took complete control of the game and pulled away. The fourth quarter was all about keeping control of the game, which is exactly what we did, even against a very vocal home crowd. At full time Newcastle were defeated 62-47. Congratulations to the girls on the gold medal.
The men’s basketball semi-final was against the top class MQU in a game that displayed talent all over the court. Both teams came out strong and although Sydney Uni played a great game, they were no match for the classy MQU team and unfortunately went down 69-83. This MQU team went on to win the grand final, while the Sydney Uni team went on to the bronze medal game wanting to leave Newcastle with a medal. The game had everything in it, with UTS wanting the win just as badly. The game went back and forth with the lead changing numerous times. Late in the fourth quarter, the team managed to get a slight lead and didn’t look back from there, winning the bronze medal game 69-64. Congratulations to the boys on the bronze medal.
The women’s futsal team went into the last day knowing that gold was up for grabs and the only thing in their way was a strong UTS side. The game started off very evenly, with the teams tied up at one a piece at half time. The Sydney Uni women had so many opportunities but could not convert, only for UTS to convert two of their opportunities to take a 3-1 lead, which they held onto for the remainder of the game. The girls finished off with the silver medal and were very proud of their efforts this week. The futsal men ended up finishing 10th.
The women’s netball had a perfect three days, and then came across a very strong UTS side in the gold medal match. The game was extremely tight but UTS managed to pull away and kept Sydney Uni to only 28 points while they scored 44. The girls finished up the week with the silver medal and should be extremely proud of their performance over the week. Congratulations to the girls on their silver medal. The mixed team finished up 15th.
The three Sydney Uni lawn bowls teams had a successful week, with the third team finishing 15th, the second team finishing 13th and the first team finishing sixth. Congratulations to all the bowlers for great performances this week.
The impressive Edward Selig finished off his tennis tournament in fine fashion. He lost an extremely close affair in a tie breaker 8-9. He then played for seventh/eighth position and ended up winning that game 8-4 to place seventh in the tournament. This is unbelievably impressive, considering that there were 50 competitors in the men’s tennis draw this year. Congratulations to Edward on a great week of tennis.
The Sydney Uni men’s touch team have had a fairytale ending final day. The men could not have started more poorly against AVON and by halftime they were down 3-0. The second half started off the same way that the first ended, with AVON scoring early to lead 4-0. The game seemed over, with the boys looking defeated. A great try sparked up something in the boys and there was no stopping them. They went on to score three more tries to be tied up 4-4 with two minutes to go. Possession was back with USYD and in an unbelievable display of talent and team work, they scored the winning try to advance to the finals with a 5-4 win. The boys carried this high into the grand final where they faced an extremely talented UNSW team. The game went try for try and at full time there was nothing separating the team as they were all tied up at 4-4. The exciting grand final went into overtime, which saw the USYD students score the winning try and win gold in an impressive performance. This team was unbelievable all week and ended their 2014 EUG campaign undefeated. Congratulations to the men on their gold medal.
The women’s touch team came across a very strong Newcastle team in the semi-finals. Although the students managed to score the opening try, they couldn’t keep this momentum going and suffered a 4-1 loss. The girls didn’t have too much luck in the bronze medal game and came up short to SUCSG, losing 4-3. The girls had an impressive week and should be commended on their fourth place finish.
The mixed touch team ended up finishing sixth and should be praised on their team spirit during the whole week.
The ultimate frisbee team breezed into the finals after a 15-1 demolishing of ANU. This set up the rematch against the hosts Newcastle, after beating them convincingly in the pool rounds. With tough winds, which made it tricky with the frisbee, the home side came out strong and took the early lead. The Sydney Uni team fought back but weren’t able to keep the home side at bay, suffering a 15-10 loss. This USYD team handled themselves so well all week, with great spirit and encouragement. The team are to be congratulated on a silver medal and Brett Latham did a great job as head coach.
The overall champion was the hosts Newcastle who put on a great competition and the Sydney Uni team should be commended on their great sportsmanship, excellent behavior and competitive spirits throughout the week.
