As well as the achievements on the river at Summer Eights, some of Balliol’s other sports clubs have been enjoying successes and near-successes this year.
The Balliol women’s badminton team made it to the finals of Cuppers, ‘drawing in the last match against the champions but losing on point difference and settling for second place’, their captain, Yaning Wu, reports.
Balliol basketball players had a good year, with what their captain, Oliver Cort, describes as ‘unparalleled Cuppers and College League successes compared to recent years’, and they fell short of playing in their first Cuppers final in almost a decade by just two points.
Balliol College Netball Club competed in the women’s second division in the University-wide league matches in Hilary Term, and won the league – ‘a great achievement for the team’ says their captain, Julia Andronikos.
For Balliol College Cricket Club, the year was one of its ‘most successful seasons of the current century’, says BCCC Vice-Captain Ed Grayson. ‘It culminated in a convincing victory over Brasenose in the Cuppers final on Friday 16 June – the club’s first triumph in the competition since the women’s in 2012, and the men’s in 2002.
Ed describes the match: ‘Brasenose bowled well early on, but a characteristically dogged and courageous 46 not out by Mr Balliol himself, Dan Altman, ensured that Balliol ran up a convincing 145–9, with an important cameo from Paul Dugdale with the bat at the end too; it was certainly reminiscent of a particular Stokes–Leach partnership at Headingley in 2019 … Some disciplined bowling from Royan, Sean, and in particular Sid Kumar at the death (playing on a nose broken in the QF) ensured that Balliol’s total was defended by 28 runs. Some impressive glovework capped off an impressive season for Fresher Freddie Goodfellow, with two difficult edges taken behind the stumps. The victory was reflective of one of the most able Balliol teams of the past two decades, but more importantly a group who loved playing with each other.’
