With warm weather this week promising the start of a lovely spring in Cyprus, UNFICYP Sector 4 brought together some of the Mission’s best sportsmen and sportswomen to compete in a series of disciplines on 23 February. 

Six teams battled it out to win a football trophy, with the hosts, Sector 4, emerging victorious after tough group stages and a tense penalty shootout against Sector 1.

The clear stars of the table tennis tournament were the HQ Engineers, who won both the singles and doubles tournament. Sector 4’s Serbian contingent took second place in both events, while Sector I claimed third place in the singles and Sector 2 in the doubles.

The remaining three events were a little unusual, making this Sports Day somewhat unique. The lanky Serbians from Sector 4 dominated the street ball tournament, while Sector 4’s Team 2 emerged champions of a fusion of tennis and football, dubbed “netball” by the troops. Finally, a pentathlon – similar in many respects to a military skills competition and consisting of 5 tasks: team work, terrain orientation, running with the burden, hurdle run, grenade throwing – saw Sector 1 take first place, followed by Sector 2 and Sector 4’s Hungarian troops.

Good weather, great sportsmanship and enthusiastic spectators made for a successful day all round. Making closing remarks, UNFICYP Chief of Staff Col Tim Wildish applauded the well-organized event and noted that being a great sports enthusiast himself, he would have loved to have participated in the events had his workload been lighter.