The men’s team started off their season in good fashion, with a mixed bag of results in 1st term including a 116-47 battering of LSBU 1s, a 50-46 victory over Goldsmiths 1s, with a cruel 56-53 defeat to Bucks New 1s in the BUCS Cup. After being convincingly beaten by UCL in last year’s series, 96-44, they’ll be looking for a closer match this time out, and with improved form in the first half of the year, the signs are good for making that the case.
The women’s outfit just slipped to a Varsity defeat last year, with the UCL side pulling away in the final quarter to edge out the match 57-44. The second team have been in strong form throughout this season, with victories over Royal Holloway and St. George’s, and should provide quality reinforcements to a solid 1s side. Taking place alongside all sorts of other sports at the UEL SportsDock on this day, the £5 entry fee for both this and the men’s game together should provide good value.
After winning 3-2 over RUMS in last year’s event, GKT Netball again have confidence going into the 2022 series. Indeed, having already smashed RUMS before this season, they may be looking to retain their title in more comfortable fashion. You can watch both this event and the KCL team after at the UEL SportsDock where it’s a festival of sport on the Sunday, so do go down.
The 1s side have been recently buoyed by a brilliant qualification for the BUCS South Eastern Finals in Portsmouth, and are looking to take this form into the Varsity match. After coming a close second in their finals match, they should be confident in getting a victory over a weaker UCL side. This is welcome news, given their galling 63-8 defeat in last year’s event. Things look brighter this year.
Taekwondo
Taking place right in the heart of London behind the British Library and King’s Cross Station, this year’s Taekwondo event will provide great entertainment once more after being absent in last year’s series. Despite limited training sessions so far this year, they often are a match for their Gower counterparts and will be looking avenge the pain of a painful defeat in the 2020 series, where dubious refereeing decisions handed UCL the win.
All of Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles will feature at this year’s badminton series, which I think for speak for most in saying is one of those sports which one becomes engrossed in during the Olympics. The women’s first team recently achieved a 5-3 victory in their big BUCS trip to Durham, putting them in good stead to swoop the women’s events. In turn, that should provide a good platform for King’s to get a point in this sport.
Weightlifting was the first ever Varsity event that I covered, having to trek to the Mordor of Ponders End after being told the wrong location in Barnet. Hoping for fewer logistical issues this time round (surely there will be given my proximity to the new Elephant and Castle location) it’s great to see the sport make its Varsity return. Additionally, this is the first ever varsity series with a combined weightlifting and powerlifting event, the difference being that powerlifting is one movement whereas weightlifting includes two (the ‘clean and jerk’ technique). If you’re in the Elly and Castle area and fancy trying something new, then definitely go down and watch- the KCL team are hopeful of a winning performance.
It’s now just standard procedure for GKTWFC to cruise through not only their season, but varsity too. In the last two Varsity series, the team have battered their RUMS counterparts on both occasions, indeed with double figures on both occasions. Spearheaded by Phoebe Read up front, they have been in good form against stronger opponents throughout this season so far, including a recent 1-0 win over UCL 1s. Reinforced with players from 2s and 3s to further bolster an already strong squad, it looks like another battering is on the cards this year.
Well, what is there to say about this team. They are, quite simply, not just the finest football club in the world, but will conquer all before them this season. First LUSL Cup final in over a decade? Tick. Champions in both their Wednesday and Saturday Leagues? Tick. Macadam winners? Also looking likely. After regaining their varsity crown last year after a tense victory on penalties, the 1s have come on leaps and bounds this season under the captaincy of Anthony Vijayanathan. Not just this, a new coach in Allan ‘Cockerz’ Cockram, who made over 90 appearances for Brentford, was once on the books of Tottenham when they won the FA Cup (1982), and turned Cambridge University Men’s 1s into a winning machine, has replicated this with GT. They’ve already convincingly beaten RUMS twice so far this season, and with quality littered throughout the side, the 1s will be looking to retain their title in more convincing fashion this time round. Backed by myself and the other ultras, I’m sure they’ll do it.
Images credited to KCLSU.
