Last season’s BUCS Handball reigning champions are off to a winning start, with the competition having returned in a brand new format.
Oxford Men and Loughborough Women, competing this year in the Championship top tier, have both won their opening two matches.
Oxford Men were victorious in last season’s Championship, and have this year opened their account by beating Imperial 20-8 and AECC 23-16 in the Men’s Championship South; while women’s champions Loughborough won their first two matches in the Championship Midlands against Birmingham and Cambridge – 16-2 and 23-6 respectively.
While last season saw teams competing in three tiers – Championship, Trophy and Shield, this year’s BUCS Handball tournament has switched to a two-tier system of Championship and Trophy.
Teams are competing in regional groups of South, Midlands, North and Scotland – with winners qualifying for the national finals.
John Pearce, National Events & Media Manager, said: “It’s great to see the return of BUCS university competition, with last year’s winners making a strong start to the season.
“We’d like to wish the best of luck to all teams playing in the next round of what looks to be an extremely exciting tournament, with some excellent talent on show.”
Other notable results from the opening weekend included a successful start for last year’s Trophy winners Warwick Men. They won their opening two matches in the Championship Midlands, beating Nottingham 23-10 and Cambridge 23-7.
Liverpool John Moores won last year’s Women’s National Trophy. Their matches in the opening round this year saw them beat York 18-9 and Leeds 15-13 in the Championship North.
The second round of fixtures will take place on the weekend of February 3 and 4.
To view all of the results so far, and fixtures to come, visit: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14pEe4SxkhZZbx0Aej2V3o-OepinMiRxM/edit#gid=545158248
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