Intramural Sports is officially in full swing! Last week featured the return of doubles badminton in addition to basketball and cricket. Duos from all grades showed up Sunday night ready to battle for the first badminton championship offered this semester. The eighth seed, You Got Just Served, came prepared as the duo of Abhinav Bountra and Nitin Yadav defeated Baddy Buddies, Lord of the Strings, and Ter baap aaya!! on their way to the championship. Meanwhile, Smash and Drop, the duo of Dadasaheb Tandale and Navid Tabrizi, recovered from a crushing loss to Lord of the Strings to make the championship game, beating Baddy Buddies and F4 on the way. Ultimately, You Just Got Served claimed the first intramural championship of the semester after a dramatic victory against Smash and Drop. With the first badminton tournament of the semester decided, we look forward to a tournament on March 8. Sign-ups are open on www.imleagues.com through March 3, so enter now! 
Intramural basketball was tense despite a short week. Tuesday night kicked off with a match-up boasting two undefeated teams Royal Flush and Bucket$. Unfortunately, the clash did not live up to its potential as Royal Flush recorded a convincing victory 74–28. Imer Ortiz (27,1) and Markley Leandre (18,7) led the way for Royal Flush, with Ortiz hitting five threes and Leandre grabbing a game-high seven rebounds. Markely currently leads the league in points per game, averaging an impressive 25 points. For Bucket$, captain Jefry Cabrera’s (8) efforts were not enough to make this game close. Following Royal Flush’s resounding victory, 508 Elite was due to face Big Money Team. Sadly, Big Money Team were only able to produce two players allowing 508 Elite to pick up an easy win. Both Royal Flush and 508 Elite remain undefeated going into week three along with Return of the Nuggets, last season’s champions. 
This Monday the Scrubs battled for their elusive first win against Royal Flush. Etzaire Fevrin (16,4) and Darnell Browne (13,9) led the way as Royal Flush were able to continue their dominance improving to 3–0 with a 62–40 win. The Scrubs fell to 0–3 on the season despite John Mulvehill (10,6) and Graham Schomp (9,4) enjoying strong performances. Both Dirty Q and White Mamba Mentality were looking for their first wins of the season on Monday as well. Dirty Q came out on top in a nail-biter, 46–44, thanks to the efforts of Omama Cheema (11) and Jianpeng Huang (10,1). Despite the agonizing loss, Jacob Smith (14,8) and Tanner Boyd (7,3) were able to shine for White Mamba Mentality. 
In addition to the intense basketball games last week, intramural cricket kicked into full gear last Thursday. Fine Legs triumphed over Wasted Potential by a score of 94–93. The atmosphere was unbelievable as both team battled it out, and captains Ankur Dua and Vishnesh Subramanian were able to lead Fine Legs to a 1–0 start. The match was followed by a blowout in which Sher Aaya Sher, led by captain Jilkumar Patel, battered Benchwarmers in a 112–90 bout. Despite the defeat, the Benchwarmers showed promise with multiple players turning in impressive performances. 
Looking forward to Wednesday night, when the Bucket$ (2–1) will look to bounce back against last season’s champions, Return of the Nuggets. While Royal Flush (3–0) will face off against 508 Elite (2–0) in a much anticipated match-up, who will remain undefeated? While in cricket, Fine Legs (1–0) and Sher Aaya Sher (1–0) will battle for first place. Followed by a clash between Benchwarmers and Wasted Potential, both looking for their first win of the season. 
Intramural cricket and basketball are off to a resounding success with Intramural soccer right around the corner. We cannot wait to see what the rest of the semester holds. If you are interested in joining Intramural Sports at UMass Boston, check out our website at www.umb.edu/recreation.