{"id":88473,"date":"2018-07-23T17:18:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T15:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=88473"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:02","slug":"between-pain-and-pleasure-how-rotterdams-athletes-performed-in-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/07\/23\/between-pain-and-pleasure-how-rotterdams-athletes-performed-in-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Between pain and pleasure: How Rotterdam\u2019s athletes performed in Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the opening week of the European Universities Games (EUG) in Portugal, athletes representing the Erasmus University took part in two disciplines: Tennis and rowing. Between the tennis teams from RTSV Passing Shot and the rowing crew from Skadi, their times in the ancient city of Coimbra couldn\u2019t have been more different.<\/p>\n

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Ruben Loef, Floris Hondmann and Yannick Ter Heerdt – the rowing crew <\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIvar Laanen<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

It\u2019s well past midnight at the Cabido Bar hidden in the hills of Coimbra and the waiter has dropped off yet another plate of mojitos at a booth where the RSTV tennis teams are playing cards. Although both the men and women have a match the following day, those matches don\u2019t count for much anymore; both teams were knocked out of the running for a medal a couple of days before and are simply playing for pride at this point. Surely, they would have loved to be in a position to battle for a spot in the top three but enjoying this charming city at their own pace isn\u2019t such a bad consolation. Mick Rooth of the men\u2019s team had predicted it might end up this way during the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

RSTV Passing Shot<\/h2>

\u201cWe drew the University of Innsbruck for our first match, the team we beat in the final two years ago,\u201d said Rooth. \u201cSo either we win this match and go on to win the whole tournament, or we lose and wind up playing the loser\u2019s tournament for 9th place.<\/p>\n

The latter half of his prediction came true. Two quick losses in a best-of-three series versus the Austrians meant a place on the podium was no longer possible for RSTV men (Innsbruck would waltz into 1st place later in the week). As the Austrians were wrapping the match with the Rotterdammers, the women were just getting started with what would become a marathon of a match versus a duo from University of Sevilla. It would take over 7 and a half hours of tennis before Lizette Blankers and Yvette Vlaar would emerge victorious.<\/p>\n

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Sjors Van Der Velden on the left and Maarten Jansen on the right (RSTV)<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIvar Laanen<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201cThe atmosphere was amazing and naturally, it\u2019s even more amazing because we ended up winning.\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really an incredible feeling when you\u2019re the only ones on the tennis court at half past ten at night and the whole crowd is on the bleachers cheering as if it were a football match,\u201d Blankers reflected. \u201cThe atmosphere was amazing and naturally, it\u2019s even more amazing because we ended up winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrations had to be put on hold on account of the next round beginning the following day. Worn out and fatigued, Blankers and Vlaar were quickly swept away by a pair of players from the University of Stirling. Their exit from the tournament signaled a transition from professional athlete mode to full-on vacation mode, and from then on you could see the RSTV tennis players [Passing Shots] around the city at night. And then there were the rowers.<\/p>\n

Skadi<\/h2>\n\t
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Een lijst van afbeeldingen<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t
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