The VC Cup returned for 2024 with the much anticipated VC’s Cup Benchball. A game played by some in their early primary school years and one filled with nostalgia.
Day 1
The first hour saw six teams battle it out in two groups, aiming to score the most points and strengthen their position for round two on Thursday. Group one saw Back to the Future (student), DoNATS and Infomaniacs compete for group supremacy. Back to the Future (student) pushed ahead securing three wins and a draw from their four games, finishing top of their group with a comfortable 10 points. DoNATS drew against Back to the Future (student) giving them an edge over their rivals, Infomaniacs, to finish second in the group with four points. This left Infomaniacs finishing in third place with a total of three points. Group two saw Keepers of the Keys (who decided to play their ‘Joker’ to secure double points), SPP Power and Happy Ravers battle it out for the lead. This group was hotly contested with both Keepers of the Keys and SPP Power finishing with seven points each with an 8-8 draw between them, meaning points difference was used to determine the group winner. Keepers of the Key’s greater +2 points difference secured them the top spot, putting them in a great position for some big points on Thursday, due to the strategic use of their ‘joker’. Happy Ravers finished third in this group with three points, narrowly losing two out of their four games by a single point.
The second hour saw another eight teams compete in two groups for their chance to win big and secure their position for Thursday’s games. Group three was made up of Fine Ants, Liquorice All Sports, Marlowe’s Marauders and Chipperfield Circus. With some close games throughout the afternoon, Fine Ants were able to secure victory in this group with two wins and a draw, finishing with seven points. Liquorice All Sports finished second with six points, Marlowe finished third with three points and Chipperfield finished fourth with one point, courtesy of their draw against Fine Ants.
Also playing was Group four, which saw some fantastic games, with a mere three points separating the top team from the bottom. Flu Fighters, RISistence is Futile (who also played their ‘joker’ for double points), Living La Vida Mocha and Campus Sporting Exploits battled it out for points in a series of competitive games. Points difference was the determining factor for the final places with both Flu Fighters and RISistence is Futile finishing with six points each and Living La Vida Mocha and Campus Sporting Exploits finishing with three points each. The Flu Fighters, however, secured the top spot in this group with a superior +6 points difference. Living La Vida Mocha took third place with a points difference of -1, compared to -5 from Campus Sporting Exploits, who finished the group in fourth place.
Day 2
Returning to the courts on day two, teams were allocated their groups based on their scores from the previous games. With a lot of points still to play for, teams were geared up and ready to fight it out.
- Group A – teams who finished first in their respective groups on Tuesday
- Group B – teams who finished second in their respective groups on Tuesday
- Group C – teams who finished third in their respective groups on Tuesday
- Group D – teams who finished fourth in their respective groups on Tuesday
Taking to the court in the first hour were Group C (Marlowe’s Marauders, Infomaniacs and Living La Vida Mocha) and Group A (Flu Fighters, Keepers of the Keys and Fine Ants with Back to the Future (student)). Group C saw Marlowe’s Marauders finish top with three out of four wins, securing 9 points. Infomaniacs and Living La Vida Mocha both finished the day with four points, Infomaniac’s greater points difference of -1 compared to Mocha’s -6 secured them second place, with Living La Vida Mocha finishing third.
Group A consisted of Flu Fighters, Keepers of the Keys and Fine Ants, with Back to the Future (student) unable to attend but still securing 17 event points after Tuesday’s games. The winner of this group and therefore, the overall winner of the event was again determined by points difference after Fine Ants and Keepers of the Keys both recorded three wins and a loss from the four games they played, each finishing with a stonking nine points. However, it was Keepers of the Keys whose prevailing +8 points difference, coupled with their decision to play their joker, saw them walk away with an amazing 41 points, securing them overall victory. Playing a series of tough games, Flu Fighters pulled up the rear, finishing their group in third place with 18 points.
Unfortunately, the second hour saw a couple of teams drop out, meaning Groups D (Campus Sporting Exploits and Happy Ravers) and B (DoNATS, Liquorice All Sports, RISistence is Futile and SPP Power) were pooled together to form a six-team round-robin. Although the teams were from different groups, they could still only score points in games concerning teams from their original groups. From Group D, Campus Sporting Exploits recorded one win and one draw from their five games, finishing with four points and an overall group win. Happy Ravers finished with five defeats but partook in some very tightly fought games to finish second in their group. Group B’s winners were determined by a fine margin with each team recording at least two victories from their five games. Liquorice All Sports finished unbeaten with three wins and two draws from their five games to finish with 11 points but were ousted from the top spot by DoNATS who secured four wins from their five games to finish with 12 points. RISistence is Futile was in third place with nine points and SPP Power brought up the rear in fourth place, with a respectable seven points.
Round up
After a fantastic couple of days, it was great to see everyone have so much fun and see teams supporting each other. A big congratulations to the VC’s Cup Benchball winner, Keepers of the Keys, who walked away with an amazing 41 event points! RISistence is Futile, who also played their joker, and secured 29 event points, taking second place and Fine Ants finished overall third with 19 points. The fairplay award for this event goes to Happy Ravers who displayed some fantastic team spirit and always had a smile on their faces!
The next Vice Chansellor’s Cup event is the Cube, on the 22 January from 6-9pm at the Sports Pavilion. Remember to keep up to date with all the VC’s Cup action and results on the VC’sCup webpage.