There were also silver medals for teams in badminton, hockey and netball as students proudly represented the Blue & Gold of The SU Bath in national finals in Nottingham on Wednesday.

Team Bath Tennis Women

The Bath Tennis women’s 1sts, sponsored by Bath Building Society, wrapped up a league and cup double as they completed their unbeaten season with a fantastic 4-2 victory over Stirling in the National Championship final.

Freya Davies and Orla Cooper got them off to a flying start, winning the opening doubles rubber 6-0 6-3, before Fran Franchi and Millie Devey Smith came from behind to win their match 4-6 6-4 10-4. The trophy was secured in the first two singles matches as Davies stormed to a 6-1 6-0 victory and Cooper won 6-1 6-4 to give Team First Women’s Premier (National) champions Bath an unassailable lead.

Bath’s men put up a fantastic fight in their National Championship final, also against Stirling, and were level after the doubles thanks to a 6-4 6-3 win for Matthew Doe and Harry Lazell in their rubber. Lazell also won his singles 6-0 6-2 and the other matches featuring Doe, William McLennaghan and Fred Withers all went to three sets. Stirling were able to battle through them to seal a 4-2 overall victory but Bath could be proud of their silver medal after a fourth-placed finish in the league.

Bath men’s 2nds went one better in their final as they beat Stirling 4-1 to add the National Trophy to the Teach First Men’s Premier South league title at the end of an excellent unbeaten season.

The University of Bath also had two teams in action in the netball finals, with the women’s 1sts – featuring Team Bath Super League trio Sophie Kelly, Lily Jones and Jayda Pechova – losing out 64-48 in a high-quality Championship decider to a Loughborough side also featuring a host of Super League players.

The 2nds have enjoyed a brilliant season to ensure Bath would be represented in the Trophy final for the first time in many years but Leeds Beckett’s 1sts proved too strong as they came from behind to win 70-48.

On the badminton court, the Bath men’s 1sts – winners of the Premier South title – were beaten for the first time this season by Premier North champions Loughborough in a well-fought Championship final. William Jones and Toby Dillingham won a doubles rubber 21-13 21-18 and there was a 21-18 21-18 singles win for Kaylan Jensen, while Chris Liu, Harry Hodges and Harry Jones were all involved in hard-fought contests during the 6-2 overall defeat.

Bath women’s hockey 1sts were also in action during a busy day, narrowly losing 2-1 to Nottingham Trent in the ICG Women’s National Vase final.

BUCS Big Wednesday marks the culmination of the British Universities & Colleges Sport league season, which runs annually from October to March, with Championship and Trophy finals taking place across 16 different sports.

Visit teambath.com/student to find out more about student sport at the University of Bath.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office

MJ Church Ambassador Dean, a 2018 European Champion who is in the first year of a Mechanical Engineering degree and supported by a Bill Whiteley Sports Scholarship, eclipsed Olympic medallist Duncan Scott’s previous mark as won 200m freestyle gold in 1:47.38.

Dean then beat Rio 2016 Olympian Max Litchfield to the 200m individual medley crown, taking his second gold of the weekend in a record time of 2:00.25.

British Swimming Sporting Scholar Tom Derbyshire, who studies Sport & Exercise Science, also won double gold at Ponds Forge after clocking impressive times of 8:18.08 in the 800m freestyle and 15:33.72 in the 1,500m freestyle.

He led a Bath one-two on both occasions, with Matthew Wright taking 800m silver in 8:29.00 and William Ryley finishing 1,500m runner-up in 15:46.20.

Ryley finished just outside the medals in the 200m backstroke and there were further fourth-placed finishes for Oliver Maltby in the 100m butterfly and Santander Scholar Jacob Greenow in the 200m individual medley, as well as five Bath relay teams.

There was a medal of each colour for Bath students on the athletics track, with Sports Performance Masters student James Gladman claiming a thrilling men’s 200m victory in 21:11.

Civil Engineering student Isobel Ives took 800m silver in 2:08.69 and Thompson Education Trust Sporting Scholar Ben Claridge, who studies Sports Performance, won 400m bronze in 48.36.

Bath enjoyed tremendous success in the martial arts competitions, with nine medals coming in the judo dojo.

Jack Purllant, Louis Delsol, Harry Boby, Harry Stone and Iosif Tsepov won men’s team championship gold, while Charlie Bond, Sophie Johnson and Hannah Rogers took bronze in the women’s team competition.

In the 1^st kyu (brown belt) and above category, Purllant won men’s -60kg silver and there were bronze medals for Olivia Smith (women’s -52kg), Rogers (women’s -78kg), Thomas Nash (men’s -73kg) and Stone (men’s -81kg).

The 2^nd kyu (blue belt) and below category saw Callum Osborne win men’s -60kg silver and Tsepov take men’s -90kg bronze.

In the karate competition, Bath won gold in the men’s team kumite and there were individual silver medals for Sophie Atkinson (women’s novice kata), Rina Matsunga (women’s senior kumite -50), Asuka Peace (women’s senior kumite -61) and Luke Williams (men’s senior kumite +84).

Badminton player Andrew Heinemann won men’s singles bronze after narrowly being edged out 21-16 11-21 22-24 in the semi-finals.

Completing the Bath medal collection was Caspian Watt, who won men’s sabre bronze in the fencing salle.

SU [Students’ Union] Sports Officer Andy Galloway said: “There were some fantastic performances from student-athletes wearing the Blue & Gold over the weekend. Congratulations to all who took part and thank you to the coaches, the Department of Sports Development & Recreation and SU staff that helped make these achievements possible.”

Applications are now being taken from current and prospective students for both the 2019-20 Sports Scholarship scheme and the Team Bath Dual Career Programme, which provide support to student-athletes at the University of Bath. Visit www.teambath.com/student to find out more.

Find out more about The SU Bath’s student sport offering by visiting www.thesubath.com/sport or www.facebook.com/thesubathsport.

Courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

The Sport & Exercise Science student, supported by a Trendell Sports Scholarship, was in impressive form over the weekend as she beat Tatiana Zheleznyak 6-3 6-3 and Jessica Ren 6-2 6-0 to reach the semi-finals.

She then overcame number three seed Louise Hollum 6-0 6-3 before sealing the title with a 6-2 6-0 win against Loughborough University’s Olivia Nicholls, the number two seed.

Nicholls had prevented an all-Bath final when she ended the excellent run of Natasha Starling with a 6-2 6-3 win in the semi-finals.

Starling and Hurst – supported by the University’s Dual Career programme – reached the final of the women’s doubles, where they were narrowly beaten 6-7(4) 6-2 10-7 by Nicholls and Louise Holtum.

The men’s doubles competition saw Sam Edwards and Max England reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten 6-2 6-2 by eventual champions Milan Pokrajac and Kirill Sinitsyn of Durham University.

Players from Bath and Durham will meet again in the final of the men’s BUCS Tennis Championships, taking place at the Sports Training Village on Wednesday, March 23.

An exciting semi-final at the same venue last week saw the Bath men’s 1^st team draw six matches all with Leeds Beckett Carnegie before winning the decisive shootout.

Lead photo shows Team Bath Tennis player Emma Hurst with the BUCS women’s singles trophy.

Report courtesy of  the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd 

The University of Bath will play host to hundreds of the best student-athletes from across the country after being announced as the venue for BUCS Big Wednesday 2017.

The prestigious event will be staged during the University’s 50^th-anniversary year and feature more than 40 finals across 15 sports – all taking place at the £30million Sports Training Village and Founders Sports Hall during one action-packed day.

BUCS Big Wednesday marks the culmination of the British Universities & Colleges Sport league season, which runs annually from October to March.

Each week, the 170-plus BUCS member institutions enter more than 5,000 teams into 26 sports. This means that some 80,000 students – including 1,000 from the University of Bath – are actively engaged in BUCS competitions every week.

Stephen Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University of Bath, said: “We are excited to be hosting BUCS Big Wednesday in 2017. We value sport very highly here at the University of Bath and our fantastic facilities, which host a wide variety of sports in a compact area, are ideal for such a prestigious event.

“We look forward to welcoming the country’s top student-athletes to the Sports Training Village, we are sure they will enjoy competing in such inspirational surroundings.”

Holly Clemens, University of Bath Students’ Union Sport Officer 2015-16, added: “It is fantastic news that the University of Bath will be the hosts of the 2017 BUCS Big Wednesday.

“Having been consistently ranked in the top five within the BUCS competition, it is with great pleasure that we welcome the best of student sport to the Sports Training Village and to our campus.

“It will be a great opportunity for the entirety of the student body to get behind and support their teams in one the most prestigious sporting events in the student calendar.”

Jordan Kenny, University of Bath Students’ Union President, said: “The chance for our campus to host world-class student sport, alongside opportunities in volunteering, for spectators and the wider community of Bath to celebrate what is best about sport in Higher Education is truly fantastic, and one that the Students’ Union is incredibly excited to ensure enables Bath to host one of the best BUCS Big Wednesdays ever.”

The University of Bath is no stranger to hosting major sporting events having previously staged, among others, the European Youth Olympics (1995), The British Transplant Games (2006, 2010), UK School Games (2008), British Colleges Sports Finals (2011-2015), Wesport School Games (2012-2015), Special Olympics GB Summer Games (2013) and, most recently, the Modern Pentathlon European Championships in the summer of 2015.

BUCS Big Wednesday will take place in March 2017.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd