Though the Boat Race attracts London’s antipodean community and the Varsity Rugby fills Twickenham, surely the finest day of sport in the Oxford calendar took place Saturday 3rd May. Set in the glorious Parks, Mixed Lacrosse Cuppers provided a day of unmatched sporting and social entertainment. With a World Cup-style format there were two initial group stages from whence two teams would progress. The first pool instantly won the alias of the ‘Group of Death’ given the presence of Hertford, Teddy Hall and wildcard danger St Catz. To the uninitiated that means reigning champions (Hertford), eventual winners (Teddy Hall) and most improved this year (Catz) – essentially France, Brazil and Senegal all in the same group. In the first game of the tournament Catz led only to be pegged back by a brave Hall surge securing both sides a valuable point apiece. Hertford would go on to convincing wins over Worcester and St Anne’s stamping their authority on the group. This meant Catz and Hall would have to scrap over the remaining placein order to go through. Meanwhile in the other group Magdalen did well to whip their confident if not experienced troops into shape. They would go on to progress alongside the strong but college-heavy collective Wadham-Exeter-Hilda’s. The ‘Group of Death’ would prove to be complicated toresolve. A last gasp Hertford equaliser against Teddy Hall secured their qualification spot meaning Catz and Hall needed a playoff to separate the two teams. Inspired by the eye-catching Jen Myatt, Hall proved too good for Catz. The semi–finals saw a shock as Hertford were knocked out by Wadham-Exeter-Hilda’s. In the other semi Hall sent a warning out by thrashing Magdalen fivenil. With flair going forward and a solid back line held together by Rich Stubley they went into the final with confidence. The final saw Hall defeat Wadham-Exeter-Hilda’s to confirm the widely held suspicion that they were the best team this year. However the victory wasn’t achieved easily as this match up turned out to be the most dramatic of the day. After the regulation ten minutes of normal time the scores were deadlocked and extra time was called upon. It was in those five minutes that Hall pulled out all the stops to produce a two-nil victory. Player of the tournament was surely Ruth Evans who exemplified the skill and determination of Teddy Hall. “The team showed a great deal of flair,” top goal scorer Jessica Hatcher told Cherwell. “We had not practised much together beforehand but worked well as a team on the day.” Next year this event will surely get bigger and better. What finer way to represent your college and build friendships than in this superb tournament? Well done to organiser Debashish Biswas and congratulations to everyone that took part.

Regent’s Park Finalist Helen is training hard for Varsity Athletics on 17 May. She runs the 100m and 200m, and ran the 100m sprint in 12.30 seconds at the recent BUSA Championships, making it to the semi-finals. A PPEist, Helen is hoping to read a Masters in Philosophy in Hawaii, which will also give her the chance to train in Track and Field at a high level, and she relishes the chance to compete on the state-of-the- art Mondo track out there. Women’s captain Helen competed in FEAR in March, which started off an intense summer of competition. Hopefully, with Varsity out of the way, she’ll be able to devote more time to her hobby, “finals”.

If Sunday’s Korfball Cuppers was not at the top of the weekend’s sporting fixture list, it was far more due to ignorance than discretion. A fusion of basketball, netball and sheer enthusiasm, the sport was developed with the express purpose of improving teamwork and communication, and its ever-increasing popularity amongst students is an encouraging trend. The four-person mixed sex teams are completely dependant upon every member, and unsupported individual performances are as unproductive as they are impressive. In Pool A, Christ Church and Blackfriars progressed comfortably to the next phase. Wadham dominated Pool B. Kelly Summers – Blues basketball player – was particularly impressive: her prolific goalscoring and industry shone through within a technically strong and hardworking group. Hertford Seconds collected the final place in the draw. Fast play and tight passing characterised Christ Church’s semi-final against Hertford Seconds, with Christ Church finally securing the on penalties. Meanwhile Wadham swamped a battling Blackfriars. Wadham faced Christ Church for the Cuppers title. Summers put Wadham in control, before James Duffy struck back. When Ged Pfeifer’s penalty restored the lead, victory seemed secure. Then, in the last seconds, Duffy forced penalties. The magnificent Summers stepped up to ensure a deserved victory for the dominant Wadham.

You never thought you’d hear this, but it was a great day to be in Peterborough.The Blues approached the Varsity Match unbeaten this season, but having lost the last two meetings with Cambridge by large margins. In front of a capacity crowd the Light Blue team came out full of confidence and working hard in the first period, winning the one on- one battles for the puck to dominate a deeper Oxford team. Tab captain Andrew Ashcroft scored on a powerplay ten minutes in. Rutter added a second at 14.23 to leave the Oxford fans fearing a repeat of last year’s debacle. 2-0 at the 1st intermission. Captain Watt’s teamtalk seemed to change the Blues’ whole attitude. Where in the 1st period Oxford had seemed overawed by the much larger and more physical Light Blues, in the second it was the Dark Blues’ turn to outwork the other team. 37 seconds in, the deficit was halved when Oxford assistant captain Joseph Place converted Guy Régimbald’s set-up. A minute later, with Place occupying two Cambridge defenders in the slot, Régimbald walked out from behind the net all alone and slid a perfect shot past the Cambridge goalie to even the scores. This state of affairs persisted until Coté scored for the Light Blues on the powerplay at 37.19. Going into the final period 3-2 down, Oxford still had it all to do. The first minute and a half of third were taken up by a twoman Oxford powerplay, but marred by two Cambridge oddman rushes. Watt was acrobatic in goal to deny the final nail in the Oxford VM coffin. Cambridge were dispirited, and the fitter, moretalented Blues began to dominate. At 47.12 Régimbald’s crisp crossice pass found rookie blueliner Chris Pettengell, whose heavy wrist-shot through Zetlin-Jones’ screen found the net. For the first time in the 118-year history of the fixture, the Varsity Match was going to overtime: 10 minutes of sudden death play, and if it ended scoreless Cambridge, the holders, would retain the cup. But at the 62 minute mark controversy struck. As Holzman cut to the net with his head down he was hit hard by Ashcroft and knocked unconscious. The TV replay later showed the Light Blue captain making contact with his elbows, and the referees had seen it too. Ashcroft was thrown out of the game. Throughout the match the Oxford top line of Quong, Sproule and Colegate had been magnificent, with little concrete reward. Now was their time. The five minute powerplay had expired, and with two and a half minutes left the situation looked bleak. Mark Sproule picked up Kassen’s pass on the right wing and crossed the blue line with speed. The desperate Tab defence men tried to claw Sproule back as he cut in across the face of goal, turned and shot over the sprawling goalie. The stunned Cambridge players and fans could only look on as the bench cleared and the 500th Oxford goal in Varsity Match play won the Blues the closest match in living memory. Jon Quong received Oxford ‘Man of the Match’ honours, and Sproule the overall game MVP in a game that no-one present will ever forget.ARCHIVE: 2nd Week TT 2003