Spectacular wins for De Montfort University Leicester’s (DMU) men’s cricket, rowing, and table tennis sides made for a triumphant last day of Varsity 2018.
Though the contest was overall a win for University of Leicester (UoL), players across a slew of different teams left everything on the pitch to pull off some memorable wins in the busiest day of the tournament.
It meant that Varsity 2018 was a record-breaker for DMU, with the university scoring its highest-ever points tally.
Out of 17 fixtures, DMU took 11 wins, making the final day one of the strongest DMU teams have ever delivered at Varsity.
The day started at the City Cricket Academy where after the Women’s Cricket team were narrowly defeated by UoL, Men’s Cricket second took an early win, taking the overall score to 11-31 to UoL.
It meant the title win was never a prospect for DMU but that didn’t stop teams performing at the highest level throughout the day.
At Leicester Arena, Women’s Badminton and Men’s Table Tennis first teams both scored close wins, taking their victories 5-3 and 9-8 respectively.
Nearby, the DMU fencing teams suffered defeats but over at Stoke Ski Centre, DMU’s Snowsports stars took inspiration from Team GB’s performance at the recent Winter Olympics for another victory.
Back at City Cricket Academy, Men’s first team took a solid win and down the River Soar, DMU Rowing teams ruled the waves, going undefeated with wins for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Over at Brooksby Melton College, the winning streak continued. Equestrian Mixed A and B teams won convincingly, showing the grace and skill for which they are known.
Meanwhile, at the Arena, Men’s Basketball second team were stuck into an epic battle, going right to the wire but losing our narrowly 63-66 to UoL. Then there was another defeat nearby, with Men’s Badminton first being schooled 7-1 by UoL.
As the evening drew on, Women’s Table Tennis first and Women’s Basketball first teams took comfortable wins and attention turned to the day’s final fixture.
The expectation was high on DMU’s Men’s Basketball first team, having taken victory last year. During a long match, UoL took a strong lead and though the DMU players showed real quality, the deficit was too much, with the final score standing at 61-73 to UoL.
Two fixtures still remain: Men’s and Women’s Rugby first teams at Welford Road, having been delayed by inclement conditions until April 30.
And though the title this goes again to University of Leicester, this final day of fixtures belonged fully to DMU, with the university racking up its highest Varsity points tally of all time.
Posted on Monday 19 March 2018