A fantastic 2016 for DBS sport has carried on into 2017 with our men's cricket team lining out for this years indoor intervarsity tournament in Galway. The last two years we have fielded strong teams in this competition so expectations were high for captain Farhan and his team. The tournament took place at NUIG in Galway this year and with the home side one of the favorites to win the competition overall. DBS were drawn in a tough group with DIT, ITC (Institute of Technology Carlow), UUJ (University of Ulster Jordanstown) and GMIT (Galway Mayo Institute of Technology. UUJ had won this competition two years consecutively so our guys were really up against it. The lads had a bad start, as they had competitive fixtures just hours after arriving for the tournment briefing and lost their opening two games against DIT and GMIT, games which they felt they should have won easily.
The poor start to the tournament left the lads needing a win against UUJ in their final group game to have any chance of qualifying for the knock out stages. For most people watching it things seemed inevitable that the current Champions (and arguably) the best team on paper at the tournament would win easily against the DBS lads.
However the result and performance from our guys shocked everyone who was there - everyone except for our lads of course! The whole team put on an outstanding display to beat the holders of the tournament and shock everyone in Galway last weekend. Farhan (BSc in Computing) led the captains innings finishing with 65 not out, Mohit scoring 40 and Haider scored a fantastic 50 to inspire DBS to a memorable win. Mohit topped a fine display collecting 4 wickets his best ever in one match with Haider also taking 2 wickets. DBS carried this momentum into the last group game to beat IT Carlow and qualify for the knockout stages. It must also be noted that none of the DBS players have ever played indoor cricket before arriving to study at DBS, so getting to grips with the variances has been a difficult task as most of the other teams would have more exposure to the sport and rules, etc.
Unfortunately it was the semi finals where the DBS cricket teams journey was ended. Our guys were beaten in a tight game against eventual champions and hosts, NUIG. The NUIG team had a number of Irish internationals and top club players on their side too, so the guys didn't feel too hard done by. Even four of the DBS players were scouted for nearby cricket team Merrion.
DBS Men's Cricket Team - Intervarsity 2017:
Farhan, Atif Bashir, Atif Gaur, Mohit, Haider and Prasit did both themselves proud and everyone at DBS proud with an outstanding display over the weekend both on and off the pitch. There is no doubt that these guys will go on to do big things in the sport in the not so distant future, Congratulations lads and keep up the good work!
Best of luck to the DBS Pool Team
We would also like to wish the DBS pool all the best for their much anticipated intervarsity weekend in Nenagh Co. Tipperary. DBS will once again take on some of the best colleges and universities in the country.
Next week is Healthy Living week at DBS!
Our plan is to implement a ‘healthy living culture’ into the DBS community and to educate our students on best practice standards for their lifestyle choices: What you can expect: