The University of Pécs Medical School team won this year’s Medical Cup, which was held between 19 and 21 April in Debrecen, Hungary. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and health sciences students competed in five sports - volleyball, basketball, football, handball, and water polo. The POTE team took home the trophy, and the students from Pécs celebrated their success in an upbeat mood in the city.
Written by Hanga Kovács
The Medical Cup has been held every year since 1972, and last year, it celebrated its anniversary: in 2023, the competition was held in Budapest for the 50th time. Each year, nearly 400 athletes compete for the trophy of this long-standing competition, with the participation of thousands of fans.
For the first time this year, there were matches in both men’s and women’s categories in each sport. The most outstanding results were achieved in both men’s and women’s water polo, handball, and volleyball by Pécs medical students.
On the first day of the three-day event, an opening party awaited the participants, who arrived during the day from three different parts of the country.
On the second day, the matches started in the morning hours in the sports halls of Debrecen and lasted until late afternoon, with each team competing against all the others. The fans showed up in their university colours, wearing the same shirt, to show their support. The POTE fans cheered for the athletes in green T-shirts with the slogan “Everybody wants to be a Pécs citizen,” often accompanied by green glitter and bull’s head tattoos, symbolizing the Pécs medical students.
The cheerleaders encouraged the spectators with well-known slogans such as “Here is Pécs, POTE, ollé!” and “Everybody wants to be a Pécs citizen!” and waved giant green flags with POTE written on them above the fans. On the evening of the second day, the band Dzsúdló warmed up the medical students, followed by an authentic party atmosphere provided by Sun City Brass and Pixa, who kept the party going until dawn.
On the third day, the teams that made it to the finals competed against each other, followed by the announcement of the results in the afternoon. The handover of the places in each sport and the special prizes was highlighted by the performance of the university cheerleader teams, who surprised the audience at the end of the ceremony with a fantastic joint performance, for which they had prepared and assembled the composition that day.
“I think we successfully created team spirit and a good mood; we motivated our athletes in the best and the loudest way, thus helping them win,” said one of the POTE cheerleaders when asked.
“The mood was upbeat; I think we, the fans, definitely contributed to the team’s excellent performance. I have never shouted as much as I did there. The atmosphere at the parties was also great; it was a great feeling that all the medical students were together, celebrating together,” - one of the Pécs fans told us.
Overall places:
1. POTE
2. DOTE
3. SZOTE
4. SOTE
Photos:
Hanga Kovács