Sports
SEPTEMBER 2019 | ISSUE 3
THE UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONS MIDDLESEX WINS AGAINST LSBU IN VARSITY
MDX MAKES IT TO THE OLYMPICS
CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THIRD YEAR RUNNING
Men’s Basketball “fought neck and neck to the last second” but the MDX team “narrowly missed out on the victory.” *
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MALCOLM BOYD
Lily Ferreira interviewed Cyrille to find out how significant his time at Middlesex has been in this journey. In 2019, Cyrille Tchatchet II made the list of refugee athletes awarded with a scholarship by the International Olympic Committee. This scholarship gives him the opportunity to train and take part of national and international competitions. Cyrille felt proud to be an example that being a refugee “does not make you less of an athlete”. Cyrille has had a difficult past. His fear of deportation and his low self-esteem have all threatened to drag him into depression. Yet, with the support from friends, family and nurses, he managed to overcome these challenges. His decision to go back to studying was due to a desire to “give back” to the community that had helped
him. Middlesex University was an “excellent choice” according to Cyrille. This was based on the success of our nursing courses and sports teams. He said that he had been looking for a university that could facilitate his interests in both academics and sports, and that Middlesex University was ideal for this. Giving up weightlifting had never crossed his mind and Middlesex was the only university that offered a nursing course and a weightlifting club that he could be part of.
* Quoted from the Sport & Recreation Newsletter - May 2019
In April 2019, Middlesex University competed against London South Bank University in the Varsity Championship for the third consecutive year. Huzaifa Hareeri reports on the event.
Despite the nature of the sport, Cyrille describes himself as “calm” and “shy”, with a “polite” nature. He was drawn towards nursing because of the reward of making “a difference in somebody’s life”. For the final project in his course, he investigated the effects of physical exercise on depression and the role of the mental health nurse. He now holds an offer to pursue a master’s course from Middlesex University where he can develop his research in this field.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZOE RANFORD
Cyrille Tchatchet II is a recent graduate from Middlesex University’s. Following a year of success in the MDX Weightlifting Team, he made the list of favourites for the Olympic Games 2020.
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Middlesex University won the 2019 Varsity Championship against London South Bank University for the third year running. Middlesex University won nine out of thirteen competitive matches. These were held across ten venues, spanning over two days. The Varsity Championship contains a series of sporting events that occur over a few days. At the end of the event, the team that won the most matches wins the championship. Middlesex University has been competing against London South Bank University since 2016. The event opened with a tie breaker at the Men’s Futsal Match. It came down to penalties, where Middlesex’s team narrowly won with 3-2. Meanwhile, the Men’s Basketball team went into their match in outstanding form, having won the last 12 competitive matches on the bounce. They failed to bring home the win though, narrowly losing the match by 3 points.
The conclusion of the first day left both Universities head to head with wins. The second day began with two wins for Middlesex University, as the Mixed Badminton team and Women’s Rugby team dominated their matches. The Middlesex Badminton team defeated LSBU with the final score of 7-2. In the Rugby Match, Middlesex obliterated LSBU’s team under the leadership of their captain, Summer White. Their final score was 41-10. Lauren Stansbury was selected as the star performer of the match. She credited their coach, Michael New, for this success.
dlesex team suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of LSBU with the final score of 26-85, making LSBU winner of both Men’s and Women’s Basketball matches. At the end of the Women’s Basketball match, Middlesex and LSBU were neck and neck with both the teams winning 4 matches a piece with 5 more matches to be played.
Women’s Football and Women’s Netball was next, where LSBU managed to even out the playing field by taking home two out of three wins.
The day concluded with another victory for Middlesex at the Trampoline Match.
Their Football team won against the Middlesex team with a bitter sore 3-1. Meanwhile, the Netball team managed to score one win for Middlesex, narrowly scraping just above LSBU in the first match. But then LSBU dominated in the second, leaving the home team with a score of 31-49. While the netball matches were going on, there was the Women’s Basketball Match where the Mid-
What followed was a wave of victories from Middlesex teams. This included the Men’s Rugby team with the score 57-10, the Men’s Football team with the score of 3-1, and the Mixed Hockey Team who won a closely contested match with the final score of 2-1.
This made the final score of the Varsity Championship 9-4 in favour of Middlesex University. The event itself was a massive success for the Sports Office at Middlesex University, who have spent the last few months organising it. Particular mention goes to Taiwo Oniti, the Sports Development Officer, and his team for being instrumental in these arrangements.
