Sheffield Varsity has returned for the 2025 edition, and it kicked off with three all-action fixtures at the Canon Medical Arena, home of the city’s professional basketball teams – the Sheffield Sharks and the Sheffield Hatters.
A fitting venue for such action, the festival of sporting action began with women’s basketball, where a tight affair saw Hallam emerge victorious, against the odds.
Last year, they were defeated 55-35 by a strong Uni side, but they were back with a vengeance this time, lead by captain Ashante Richards, who was in incredible form.
Uni of took the lead going into the final quarter thanks to a late two from Megan Aziz, but Hallam came away 45-39 victors despite an impressive three-pointer from Emily Atkinson late on.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Uni though, as in the men’s basketball that followed, it was another reverse of last year’s result. Hallam had taken the points last year, but coach Mike Tuck’s Uni side had a relatively easy win this time around, winning 65-56.
Hallam started the game well, and were ahead by ten points at one stage of the game, but they didn’t manage to hold possession well towards the end, and that’s what allowed the side in Black and Gold to get some revenge on their opponents after 2024.
After two tight games of basketball, it was a much more one-sided affair in the netball, which rounded off the day.
The alarm bells would certainly already have been rining for Uni of after the first quarter, being down by 16 points to five, and that ended up being the difference between the sides, with Hallam emerging 39-29 victors on the day.
This is despite Hallam having spent this year’s BUCS campaign in the same division as the Uni 2s, making this an unexpected result.
These were the first three fixtures out of more than 80 across Varsity this year, with the final one being the ice hockey at the Utilita Arena, on Wednesday 2nd April.
