First-round frustration but more Grand Slam experience for Team Bath’s Anna Smith at US Open

Team Bath MCTA Tennis player Anna Smith suffered a narrow first-round defeat at the US Open on Thursday as she contested her fourth Grand Slam tournament of 2017. Smith and partner Nicole Melichar made a great start to their women’s doubles match against Raquel Atawo and Sabine Lisicki, breaking serve twice to take the first set 6-3 on Court 14. However, their opponents fought back to win the second set 7-5 before edging the decider...

01 September 2017

Hard work paying off as Ben Fletcher heads to Judo World Championships on career high

Team Bath judoka Ben Fletcher is aiming to finish his “best season so far” on a high note when he represents Great Britain at the World Senior Championships in Budapest, Hungary this weekend. The Rio 2016 Olympian, an ambassador for Team Bath partners MJ Church, goes into the -100kg competition with a career-high world ranking of 18 after winning three international medals during 2017. His silver at the Cancun Grand Prix in Mexico was Fletcher’s...

31 August 2017

University of Bath rugby players start pre-season build-up at Bath Rugby’s Farleigh House

The University of Bath men’s rugby players have started their pre-season build-up in style after being invited to train at Bath Rugby’s Farleigh House headquarters. The Ikon Construction-sponsored squad met up in the palatial surroundings of the Blue, Black and White’s training base on Tuesday for their first session of the 2017-18 season. The new BUCS Super Rugby campaign gets under way on Wednesday, September 27 when the University of Bath take on Leeds Beckett...

30 August 2017

Blue and Gold stars help England Netball inflict rare defeat on New Zealand on home soil

Team Bath Netball’s Eboni Beckford-Chambers and Kadeen Corbin helped England record an outstanding 49-45 victory over New Zealand in Auckland on Wednesday. The victory, in the second match of the Quad Series, was only the fifth ever recorded by the Roses against the Silver Ferns in 88 matches and was secured by three unanswered goals in the closing stages from Corbin. She showed the attacking qualities she will be bringing back to the Blue and...

30 August 2017

Team Bath MCTA Tennis ace Luke Johnson wins second silver of World Uni Games for Bath-based athletes

Team Bath MCTA Tennis player Luke Johnson is hoping to use his World University Games silver medal as a springboard to future success after representing Great Britain with distinction in Taipei. Johnson and partner Jack Findel-Hawkins produced a series of excellent performances, including a straight-sets win over home favourites Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Hsien-Yin Peng, to reach the men’s doubles final. Russia’s Richard Muzaev and Aslan Karatsev took the opening set 6-1 but the Brits battled...

29 August 2017

Sixth is super for Pentathlon GB’s Joe Choong and Kate French at World Championships

University of Bath student Joe Choong and graduate Kate French both overcame challenging conditions to record superb sixth-placed finishes at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in Cairo, Egypt. MJ Church ambassador Choong, who studies Mathematics, enjoyed a strong start to the men’s individual final by winning 22 of his 35 fencing bouts and recording the fastest time of 2:00.87 in the swimming pool to sit in third place. An unfortunate fall when his horse stopped...

27 August 2017

Alumnae face date with destiny as England go for glory in Women’s Rugby World Cup Final

Three University of Bath alumnae will be aiming to help England retain the Women’s Rugby World Cup on Saturday after being named in the matchday 23 for the televised final against New Zealand. Natasha Hunt, part of the successful Red Roses team in 2013, will start at scrum-half for the trophy showdown, which is being shown live on ITV1 at 7.45pm. Fellow Coach Education & Sports Development graduate Izzy Noel-Smith is on the bench along...

26 August 2017

Semi-final frustration for Anna Hopkin and Jacob Paul at World University Games

University of Bath duo Jacob Paul and Anna Hopkin missed out on their respective World University Games finals by the narrowest of margins in Taipei on Friday. Sport & Social Sciences graduate Paul, who was supported by a Trendell Sports Scholarship during his time at Bath, finished third in his 400m hurdles semi-final in 50.37 to place ninth overall. There was a similar fate for Sport & Exercise Science student Hopkin (pictured) in the swimming...

25 August 2017

Jacob Paul up and running at World University Games as Luke Johnson progresses on two tennis fronts

University of Bath graduate Jacob Paul made a confident start to his World University Games campaign on Thursday as he won his 400m hurdles heat in Taipei. Paul, who studied Sport & Social Sciences and was supported by a Trendell Sports Scholarship, clocked 51.38 to book his place in the third of Friday’s semi-finals (10.57am BST). In the swimming pool, MJ Church ambassador Jay Lelliott had to settle for a fifth-placed finish in the 800m...

24 August 2017

Jenny Nesbitt battles heat and humidity to finish a fantastic fifth in World Uni Games 10,000m final

University of Bath sporting scholar Jenny Nesbitt finished a fantastic fifth in a challenging 10,000m final at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei. Torrential rain delayed the athletics evening session for one hour, then the 90% humidity and temperatures in the mid-30s caused several athletes to suffer heat exhaustion once the race eventually got under way. Sport & Social Sciences student Nesbitt, supported by a Trendell Sports Scholarship, produced a stellar effort to claim...

23 August 2017