April 14th and 15th saw the annual student canoe polo tournament, where universities from all over the UK come together at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, to play each other and earn some BUCS points for their uni.
With a rather damp run up to the event, the banks for the lake didn’t take long to turn into a mud bath with people and boats slipping around. But none of this put the students off from hoping on the water and giving each other some good games!
Saturday saw the sun come out, just in time for the first round of play off’s to start! The first round was every teams chance to progress through to the next top round, giving them a chance to play an easier game. However, even if a team lost this first game they could still make it back up the rankings and earn a place in the final matches. A few of the favourites got off to a flying start; Liverpool’s open team asserted their dominance from the start, as did Durham’s ladies team.
Those teams who were unlucky enough to lose their first two games still had a chance to have some fun and improve their polo skills as they drop into a round robin league, providing them with lots of games over the weekend. By the end of a sunny Saturday the Open leagues top 8 was decided, and the last few of the Ladies and B team leagues too.
A bleary eyed mass of students lined the bank on the Sunday as they recovered from the party the night before. Games started at 8am prompt, much to the dismay of some players. These were the games that mattered, as soon as you lost here that was it, you couldn’t place any higher. So with tensions high all round lots of games were fought hard.
With a couple of upsets along the way, the finals were reached. In the B League Nottingham Uni played London Uni. A very close match which had end to end play and a lot of goals! Just sneaking ahead at the end of the game, and taking the win (and lovely Peak UK polo PFD’s!) was London University.
Next up was the ladies where Liverpool University took on Durham. Both teams had some top level players so it was a thrilling match to watch. The teams really showed off how good the ladies league was, pushing hard for the whole game. At the final whistle it was Durham that paddled away with the win.
Rounding the long weekend off was the open league final, Liverpool was again facing off against Durham. The two teams had very different playing styles and that made it very interesting to watch. Durham liked to take the long shots, but Liverpool enjoyed getting in close to the goal and making Durham work. A few impressive goals later it was Liverpool that were a couple of goals ahead, taking the 2018 title.
All that was left was for the prizes and medals to be handed out and then as quickly as a game ended, so did the weekend. The site emptied out and the tired students all headed home.
