Today's lineup included a very energetic start of three sports: football, judo and kickboxing. The general technical meeting for 3x3 basketball was also held.

In Debrecen the atmosphere get heated with the first matches of football. The first whistle of football was blown in three courts today, starting early in the morning in both men and women competition.  

In the men's competition, we had the chance to be present at the exciting matches between State University of Trade and Economics (UKR) and University Fan Noli (ALB), finishing with a definite win 4:0 for the Ukrainian squad. 

In the Olah Gabor court, Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad (ROM) competed against BI Norwegian Business School Bergen (NOR) and celebrated the win, 1:0 with a goal made in the last minutes of the match. 

The women's competition was as exciting as expected. The morning was hosting 4 different teams on the same court. First ones to open the tournament were the girls from Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France (FRA) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (GER). The finish line was 5:1 in favor of the french team.

Next to occupy the same field were University of Valencia (ESP) playing against Eindhoven University of Technology (NED). Valencia came stronger and won the match with a 3:2 final result. 

In our talk with Lize Versluis, one of the scorers for the Eindhoven University of Technology, on how she comments on their game today, she said: “Good! I think we played pretty well and we thought it was a tough game but we did very well and I am very proud of the team. My favorite moment was the goal of our striker, she made a backwards kick, a bicycle kick! And it was a beautiful goal.”

In the afternoon game between University of Lisbon (ESP) and University of Granada (ESP) we had a 2:2 result at the finish. Luis Viegas from University of Lisbon, said: “It was a good and a rough game!It was really tough. Mostly because of the temperature, it is really hot today, so it was really tough. We don’t usually play in the grass so it was difficult for us to get in the game easily. “

The excitement present among the 3x3 basketball teams elevated as well, with the draw being made at the GTM held in the GTM Room in the Learning Center in the campus of University of Debrecen. 

In Miskolc two out of four combat sports present at this year's Games, kicked off its competitions. Student-athletes were competing for their first wins in kickboxing and judo. 

Kickboxing started with the men’s competition, featuring many matches in the new sports hall inaugurated a few days ago. We had the chance to follow the match between Ismael Vizcaíno Aguilar from the University of Valencia (ESP) and Nolan Ortis from Aix Marseille University (FRA)for the -84kg category.  Ismael won 3-0, after his match he confided to our microphone: “This is incredible. I want to do my best in this competition. It’s my first time at an EUSA event, so it’s amazing for me.” We are very excited to see the women's competition start tomorrow!

Continuing with combat sports, today marked the kickoff for judo and the first award ceremony of EUG2024. The ceremony included the lightest weight categories: 48kg to 63kg for women (four categories) and 60kg to 73kg for men (three categories). The sports hall was full of supporters cheering for their university teams. Despite today being the individual competition, the teams are preparing for the team competition in two days. The team spirit is palpable in the hall!

We had the chance to speak with Jana Cid Balcells from Pompeu Fabra University (ESP), who got the second place for the category of -48kg: “Yeah, I am really excited because this past month hasn’t been very good, with injuries and everything. So, it is very comforting to get this medal.”

Some sports got their first spotlight today, while for some it was already the second day of competition. Futsal, volleyball, and chess athletes continued showcasing their best sporting skills, shooting goals and bringing points for their teams and universities. 

All three venues of Futsal were hosting teams, competing with their best skills to win the match of the day and one step further up the scale. 

Our lenses were present on two matches of the women's competition between University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (GER) and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NOR). The girls from NTNU were leading the match in every possible second, resulting with 5:0 in their favor.  We had the pleasure to speak to two of the players of this match Leonie Haberaecker and Luzie Schmechtig. 

Leonie said: “This is our first EUSA championship and it is better than expected. Everyone here is so kind and you can feel that you are welcome. We’ve been involved in sports all our lives and some of us are going to be teachers. We’ll teach our students that sport can help you create great friendship, maintain health and help you deal with stressful situations.” 

On the same court, an exciting match continued the futsal schedule, hosting the women's futsal squads of University of Pecs (HUN) and University of Zagreb (CRO).  Two great teams played an anticipating match, finishing with the result of 3:0 for University of Zagreb. 

Late afternoon in Debrecen was reserved for more matches in the Futsal and Football competition. 

In Miskolc, Volleyball and Chess had its second day of competition, as well. Exciting matches and strategic moves were present all day long. 

We expect the next days of the games to be even more energetic, thrilled and full with great results and exhilarating atmosphere around the venues in Debrecen and Miskolc, as the official Opening Ceremony of the event is on the lineup for tomorrow. 

For more information, please see www.eug2024.eu