On March 7, the Lithuanian Student Badminton Championship was held at the Vytautas Magnus University Sports Hall, bringing together the strongest university teams in the country. Eight teams participated in the tournament, competing not only for the championship title, but also for the right to represent their university at the European University Games, which will take place from July 25 to August 2 in Salerno, Italy.
The competition program began with women’s and men’s singles matches. In the men’s singles final, spectators witnessed a particularly fierce duel between Vladyslav Stepanchenko (VDU) and Jonas Petkus (KU). After three sets, V. Stepanchenko, representing VDU, won with a score of 21:19, 17:21, 21:15.
The women’s singles final was between two athletes from Vytautas Magnus University – Mariia Koriahina and Anna Kovalenko. M. Koriahina played confidently and defeated her opponent with a score of 21:12, 21:10 to become the champion.
Women’s singles:
1st place – Mariia Koriahina (VDU)
2nd place – Anna Kovalenko (VDU)
3rd place – Anastasiia Prokopovych (VDU)
Men’s singles:
1st place – Vladyslav Stepanchenko (VDU)
2nd place – Jonas Petkus (KU)
3rd place – Vilius Bagdanavičius (VDU)
After the individual competitions, the team tournament began, in which eight university teams competed for the championship title and a ticket to the European University Games. In the team competition, athletes competed in mixed doubles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, men’s singles, and women’s singles.
The teams from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and Lithuanian Sports University (LSU) faced off for third place. After a dramatic and unpredictable battle, the LSU representatives won the bronze medals.
In the grand final, the teams from Klaipėda University (KU) and Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) competed for the championship title for the first time. Although the VDU team was unable to count on the help of experienced players Andrii Don and Samanta Golubickaitė this time, the university put together a strong lineup and demonstrated excellent teamwork. VDU not only defended its championship title, but also earned the right to represent the university at the European University Games in Salerno.
This will be the third games in which the VDU badminton team will participate.
Team competition results:
1st place – Vytautas Magnus University
2nd place – Klaipėda University
3rd place – Lithuanian Sports University
4th place – Kaunas University of Technology
5th–8th place – Mykolas Romeris University
5th–8th place – Lithuanian University of Health Sciences
5th–8th place – Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
5th–8th place – Vilnius Academy of Arts
Information from www.lssa.lt




