Xiaohongshu
Badminton Club & Table Tennis Club recently made a return to the European stage, this time at the 2026 European Universities Games (EUG) in Salerno, Italy! Building on from successful outings at their respective 2025 European Championships, the clubs qualified for the EUG following strong BUCS seasons, including multiple quarterfinal appearances in the National Championships.
What is EUSA and the European Universities Games?
EUSA is the European Universities Sports Association, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. EUSA is the governing body for university sports in Europe, coordinating competitions and representing university sports in relation to European organisations. They are responsible for the organisation of the European Universities Championships and Games.
The Games take place on a biannual basis, and brings the best University club teams together to crown the best in Europe (sort of like the Champions League in football). The event is a multi-sport competition, featuring 13 sports and over 4,500 student athletes from across Europe!
This year's Badminton competition featured 20 teams from 16 countries, with Great Britain represented by UCL and University of Strathclyde who were making their first appearance at EUSA.
Men's Table Tennis' competition featured 20 teams from 16 countries, including Imperial College London from Great Britain and Queen's University of Belfast from Ireland. For the Women's, 16 teams competed from 13 countries, with GB's delegation also including Durham University.
How did we do?
Table Tennis Club sprung into action in week 1 of the games, with the Women's team defeating Armenian State University of Economics (ARM) 3-1 & Caucuses International University (GEO) 3-2 to secure 2nd place in Group D. This ensured the team finished 5th in the team event and narrowly missing out on a bronze medal, which is a fantastic achievement! The Men's team had a challenging draw, losing their group games to University of Vienna (AUT), University of Pecs (HUN) & Queen's University of Belfast (IRL), before defeating University of Salerno (ITA) 3-0 to claim a 15th place finish.
In the individual events, there were fantastic performances from all athletes. The standout performance of the week was Xin Ning Ng, who recorded a 5th place finish in the Women's Singles; an incredible achievement in her debut tournament for UCL!
Badminton Club entered the games in week 2, securing a place in pot 1 of the team event after previous performances. A tough draw resulted in narrow losses to University of Maribor (SLO) 3-2 & University of Eindhoven (NED) 4-1. A defeat to eventual bronze medalists, University of Cologne (GER) 5-0, meant the team played in placement games, eventually defeating University of Salerno (ITA) 3-0 to secure an 18th place finish. With only 4 members at the games, this was a fantastic effort!
What's next?
Both clubs will be hoping to continue TeamUCL's presence on the European University sports stage by aiming to qualify for their respective Championships in 2027!