Oxford A (Alex Smith, Matt Langton, Ciprian Zahan) won the BUTC 2014 final with a 12-11 win over Warwick A (Jorge Lindley, Tom Hall, Maddie Meatyard). Oxford had been a disc down at the half way mark but fought back and retained their title by a single disc. In the bronze medal match, Derby A (Tom Currall, Shaun Rhodes, Bilaal Mohammed) beat Loughborough A (Richard Anderson, Arthur Coveney, Adam Peers) 12-9
There were 20 different universities, with an unusually high number of withdrawals prior to the tournament and poor weather conditions leading to transport difficulties for those travelling. Flooding meant that Cambridge's B team were unable to attend, whilst Imperial A and B were only present for the last 9 arrows of qualifying. Queen Mary made the last 3 arrows of qualifying, putting the 3 sides at the bottom of qualifying and generating a bye for Oxford A in the first round.
Top individual qualifier was Tom Currall (Derby A) who scored 282. Alex Smith and Matthew Langton (both Oxford A) were second and fourth on 279 and 277, whilst Alex Morrell (Birmingham A) was third a point in between. Amelie Aichinger (Surrey A) was the top scoring lady on 270, ahead of Nata Chavanich (Southampton B) on 265 and Margaux Mesle (London A) on 262. Top novice was Arman Amini (London B) on 255.
The format of the knock-out matches was same as it has been since 2007, with the teams of three each shooting four ends of two arrows each at 60mm discs.
In the first round, Oxford A (qual 1st) received a bye in to the first round, but Oxford B went out of the competition 9-6 to Cambridge. There was disappointment for all three of the teams who had arrived very late. Queen Mary lost 10-0 to Derby, forfeiting their only hit with a red card - in combination with their curtailed Bray I, Queen Mary's trio shot only 13 arrows each all day. Imperial B lost 6 discs to 12 against Warwick A and although Imperial A put in a spirited display, they were eventually out gunned 14-9 by Edinburgh A. Whilst Warwick A had no problems in round 1, Warwick B became the highest ranked team to go out - losing out to local rivals Birmingham B (qual 26th). The match struggled to 5-5, before Birmingham B won through in the shoot off 1 hit to zero. Both Southampton sides made it through to the second round on home turf. Southampton A beat London B 13-6, this despite London B taking a 4-3 lead after the first end. Southampton B beat East Anglia 8-3. London A however, were convincing in a 13-2 demolition of Reading. Both Keele teams were on the wrong end of comfortable scorelines, Keele A out 6-12 to Nottingham A, with Keele B going down 4-11 to Loughborough A. Loughborough B (qual 22nd) were 6-2 up after 2 passes against Bath (qual 11th). Despite a fightback from Bath, it was Loughborough B who came through 10-9. Another match that finished 10-9 saw Napier claim their long awaited first hit/miss win in a topsy turvy mid-table match. Napier (qual 15th) won the first pass 3-2, but lost the next two against Lancaster (qual 18th) to be 6-7 down. Unsurprisingly, there were a number of judge's calls in the last pass, but the Scottish side won 4-2 to win the match 10-9. Nottingham B (qual 20th) eliminated Nottingham Trent (qual 13th) 8-6 as the city rivals' match had been level going in to the final pass. Surrey A beat Derby B 10-7, but Surrey B were well beaten 12-3 by Birmingham A.
The round of 16 was heavy with unusual results - in two cases, B teams went through when their A teams went out. Former champions Edinburgh (qual 4th) were the biggest casualties after they struggled to a 7-8 defeat against Nottingham B, their second scalp of the day and the first time Edinburgh have not made the BUTC quarter-finals. Nottingham B made the last eight, despite ranking 20th in the Bray I, but they were not joined by Nottingham A (qual 8th) as they lost to London A (qual 9th) 9-8, this match only coming alive in its second half. Southampton B and Birmingham B fought out the lowest scoring of all the second round matches. Southampton B's 6 hits proved more than enough as Birmingham B could only manage 2 in response. In contrast Southampton A looked to have Warwick A in real trouble, 5-3 up after one pass, moving to 9-7 after three. Warwick A roared back in to life just in time, taking the fourth and final pass 4-1 and the match 11-10. Loughborough A knocked out Surrey A 11-7, whilse Birmingham A squeezed past Loughborough B 7-6. At opposite ends of the hall, the top two seeds sounded a warning to the other teams. Oxford A hit 16 against 10 from Cambridge A, the Dark Blues getting revenge for the Light Blues' previous round win. Derby A meanwhile overwhelmed Napier 17-6. Already with a significant lead, Derby hit the gas in the third pass, wiping out all 6 discs.
In what was otherwise a close quarter-final, Derby A were at it again, producing a perfect 4th pass to lend extra gloss to a 15-10 victory over Southampton B. This set up a semi-final with Loughborough A as the knocked out Nottingham B 12-5. 20th seeds Nottingham B faded after winning the opening pass 2-1 and threatening to claim a third upset. Every BUTC final from 2003 to 2013 had featured either Edinburgh or Nottingham (or both). In the closest of the quarter-finals Warwick A took on local rivals Birmingham A. The pair's B teams had met earlier in the tournament and Birmingham had produced the upset. A noisy, very even match took place, with ends of 2-3, 3-3, 4-3, and 3-2 to settle the match 12-11 in favour of Warwick A. In the remaining match, Oxford A ended London A's challenge 15-6, having also beaten the same opposition in the same round, last year.
The two semi-finals ran concurrently. Oxford A v Loughborough A pitted the 2013 and 2012 champions against one another. For Warwick A, this was the sixth time in the BUTC semis, whilst for Derby A this was very much new territory, although had hit more discs than any other team at this point. Warwick A took an initial 4-2 lead, remarkably the first time Derby had been behind in the KO matches. Although the momentum shifted back and forth during the match, a Oxford's 5-3 win in the final pass saw them through 15-11. The other semi-final saw Oxford A win the first leg against Loughborough A 4-3, before the match exploded. The second pass ended 5-5, then the third ended 6-5 to Oxford A. Despite hitting 10 of their last 12 discs, Loughborough were now two hits behind and could not claw the match back. In the end Oxford A won 18-15 and whilst they missed out on the tournament record of 19, the total of 33 discs in the match is a record.
The bronze medal match saw Derby A take early control, with a couple of disc cutters giving them a 5-1 advantage, which became 6-2 after a lacklustre second pass. However, having shot two perfect passes themselves, it was now Derby A's turn to be on the receiving end as Loughborough A roared back on to level terms, 8-8 with an end to go. Derby A were not derailed however and closed out the match 12-9 to win their first ever national level medals. Although Loughborough missed out on the medals, they can reflect on a third semi-final in five years.
Warwick A were competing in their third final after losing in the finals of 2008 and 2009. Could they go one better in 2014? Oxford A were looking to be the first team since 2008 to defend the BUTC crown. The final got off to a good start, with both sides cancelling each other out, 4 discs apiece. By half way, Warwick A had nudged in to 7-6 lead, before Oxford came back in pass number three to lead 10-9. In a tense last pass, Oxford A looked favourites, but the result was still not clear even after all the arrows had been shot. Judges examined a couple of potential disc cutters on both sides, the pass eventually ending 2-2, thus giving Oxford A the win, 12-11.
BUTC could not go ahead with the support of its two key long terms sponsors, Clickers and Beiter who were once again critical to the success of the day, with Clickers supplying the bosses and timing equipment and Beiter the hit/miss apparatus and some prizes. Thanks are also due to the many people who worked hard in the months and days leading up to the tournament and on the day itself, particularly the innumerable Southampton-ites as well as the judging, IT and organising teams, commentators and absent friends.
Last year, there were a "mind bending" 611 entries for BUCS in Telford. The equivalent figure for 2014 is a jumbo jet sized 737 entries. In fact, it is so many, that 90 or so archers will need to be cut. It looks as though squads will be limited to 17 archers.
As for BUTC, simultaneously the easiest and the hardest "national" to win, the little yellow discs have been packed away for another year. Could your club help to organise a competition like that? Contact UKSAA if you're interested in BUTC 2015.
Quarter Finals
Semi Finals
Third/Fourth place play-off
Final
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