Penicuik Table Tennis Club

ELTTL - Week 30 Report

14/4/2019

Week 30 of the Edinburgh League saw the Club’s outstanding league fixtures completed with two derby battles at Ladywood.

Greig McDonell was looking to avoid playing Team 2 and had called up Ian Hislop to join David Melrose and Iain Johnstone in their Division 1 derby. Gary McDougal, Charlie Brindley and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz were looking forward to making things awkward for their Team 1 opponents. Hold on, drama before the match even started as David seemingly had a bit of a sniffle and wasn’t going to make it! Oh dear, Greig had to face that awkward trio after all! This was a classic intra-club fixture – no love lost, a real desire to win, bad language, bad tempers, unsporting behaviour, bitterness at every edge or net that went to the opponent - and all of that was just from Charlie! Oh, if only David had been there – this could have turned really ugly! As it was, Iain J started the match off with a 4-end win v Charlie, the third end of which was crucial and accordingly to Charlie, Iain had about 13 edges and nets in his 11-9 win. Greig comfortably dispatched Krzysztof before Gary came back from the dead to win 12-10 in the fifth v Ian H. Match 4 could have gone either way – Greig was nice and relaxed in the first end but when Charlie sneaked it for a 14-12 win things got interesting. Charlie, buoyed by that, took a 6-0 lead in the 2nd end and Greig appeared to be stuck in 1st gear – he couldn’t even seem to motivate himself as he remained calm and quiet – that was until an edge was greeted with a despairing grunt from Charlie – the first David Melrose style “Good Boy” of the night wasn’t received well by Charlie who was left even more annoyed by Greig’s retort that the "Good Boy" was merited as a result of the shot’s perfect length! Oh my – aren’t we from the same Club?? Greig ultimately took a 2-1 lead before Charlie stuck at it and clawed back with a 12-10 fourth end win! In the 5th, Greig decided that pushing wasn’t going to win this match and suddenly decided to “just go for it”. A good tactical decision as he won the 5th end 11-1. Had Charlie managed to secure victory there, this could have become a very interesting match, however, that was as close as Team 2 got to levelling the scores, their only other win coming in match 9 as Charlie defeated Ian H. In the end an 8-2 victory for Team 1 probably flattered the Division 1 Champions.

Meanwhile, Team 6 hosted Team 7 in the last fixture of Division 4. As a result of Greig’s late call up to Team 1, he returned direct from Glasgow with daughter, Hannah, in tow giving Team 7 the opportunity of “pulling a fast one” by turning up with 3 players as opposed to Team 6’s two! All’s fair in love and war isn’t it? Hannah was joined by Kristian Skotzen and Phil Daly (still recovering from eye surgery) as they took on Team 6’s Louis McLeod and Craig Linton. This derby match wasn’t quite as fiery as the 1v2 game but had its moments – Kristian can be really bad tempered at times – has anyone noticed that?? And as for that Hannah….

Louis again proved his worth to Team 6, an undefeated night for him in which he only lost 1 end (to Hannah) and a win in the doubles secured 4 wins for Team 6. Fortunately, Mr Walkover hadn’t performed too well for Team 6 so that made it 4-3. When Hannah and Kristian both recorded wins over Craig, Team 7 were 5-4 up. The last match of the night was to prove decisive - Craig v Phil. As Craig took the first two ends comfortably (11-5, 11-6) he looked in complete control – credit to Phil, however, as he came back with an 11-7 win in set 3 to make the game interesting. In the end, however, Craig proved too strong and given Team 7’s shenanigans it was probably fair that Craig secured the 5th win for Team 6 as the spoils were shared with a 5-5 draw.

Away from the League, Abby Wighton, Sonny Taylor and George Wilson took on Corstorphine in the first semi-final of the Handicap Cup. When Sonny (previously undefeated in the competition) lost the first match of the night the writing was on the wall for the Penicuik trio. They battled back however and with time running out they found themselves 4-3 down. As George was losing Match 8, the decision was taken to get match 9 started on another table (just in case). As Abby won the first end of Match 9, George was involved in an epic battle in end 4 of his match. At various points he found himself match point down but battled hard to somehow win that 4th end and take the game to a decider. League teammate, Hannah, commented that she’d never seen George looking so nervous as he pushed ball after ball that were almost above head height – that’s the beauty of the Handicap Cup – it makes us all play some ridiculous games at times! Talk about nerves – with a big crowd looking on, George’s screech of delight (more like relief) was heard as he levelled the match score at 4-4. No pressure then Abby! As all of the nervousness of George’s match had been going on, she lost end 2 and was embroiled in her own epic third end. Giving away a 6 point start in a race to 13, she had comfortably caught her opponent before the end of the game, but then, as seems to regularly happen in these matches, the players started trading points – after 7 deuces, Abby agonisingly lost the 3rd end and that was to prove crucial – a great effort but she fell to a 3-1 defeat and Corstorphine progressed to the final – a terrific match to end the night.

The week wasn’t over there though for the Club as the next night saw the final quarter final take place between Murrayfield and Penicuik. David was unavailable (work seemingly rather than his sniffle from the previous night), and so he was replaced by Craig Linton, making his debut in the Competition as he joined regulars Gary McDougal and Louis McLeod. A terrific 5-2 win followed for the Midlothian trio and the only question at the end of the night was will David be able to claim his place back in the team for the semi-final – unlikely seemed to be the answer from that harsh Team Captain, Gary, who was still annoyed at David for having avoided the derby game the previous night!

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 30. This week’s undefeated players were Greig and Iain from Team 1 and Louis from Team 6. Louis got a good mention last week and so he’s out of the running this week! Greig and Iain also won the doubles together – how can we split them? Surely the man who gave up his plans at the last minute, rushed back from the West through rush hour traffic and at the same time managed to bring Team 7 a third player deserves this week’s award? But wait, Team 2 for some bizarre reasoning appear to have awarded the POTM award to Iain J – oh well – dubious though it is, this week’s winner (kind of deserved) is Iain J!

Controversial moments this week? We have to end on a happy note for a change. The League season is over, and it’s been a good one for the Club – even with some outbursts in our Derby matches, everyone shook hands and had a laugh about it after the event. At the end of the night the Club spirit was there to be seen as everyone stayed around to support our team in the Handicap Cup Semi-Final. And that’s what TT at our level should be about – be determined and always want to win on the table but be friendly and supportive of each other away from the table – a pat on the back to Penicuik TTC for continuing to have that “family friendly” feel about it.

And so on we go with one final matter still to be decided for the Club - another Handicap Cup Semi-Final, hopefully with a better outcome than the last one.....

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ELTTL - Week 29 Report

8/4/2019

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Week 29 of the Edinburgh League saw the only outstanding promotion battle decided as the Division 4 title race went down to the wire.

Team 5 went in to their final match of the season against North Merchiston 6 knowing that they were in control of their own destiny. Thanks to Haddington’s win v Fife in Week 28, a win for Craig Johnson, Louis McLeod and George Wilson and promotion would be secured. A big win combined with a loss for WL the next night and the title was also within reach. When Louis turned up with a broken bat there was some worry from the visitors - it was ok though he’d turned up with a £9.99 replacement with pimples on one side!!! Really?? Did he know this was quite a vital match? George won match 1 in straight sets before Louis and his funny bat was put to the test by Alex McKay. A fifth end decider went the way of the visitors much to the relief of Louis’ teammates and when Craig won match 3 in straight sets things were looking positive for the Midlothian trio. Alex was even more unlucky in match 4 when he lost 12-10 in the 5th to George and when both Craig and Louis won the next two in straight sets, the match was over, and promotion secured. With the final 4 matches all going the visitors’ way, a 10-0 win flattered the visitors but meant they were still in the hunt for the title! Let’s not be greedy though Team 5! West Lothian were victorious the next night v Fife, their season ruined by two losses in their last two matches. So, WL 7 top the table – congratulations to them and Team 5 pulled off a terrific run of results to resurrect their season – 5th place 6 weeks ago to 2nd by the end was a great achievement – well done to them.

Team 1 welcomed back Greig McDonell as he, David Melrose and Iain Johnstone travelled to take on already relegated Corstorphine 2 in Division 1. With the title already secured this match was played in a very relaxed manner and the gulf from top spot to bottom showed as the visitors ran out comfortable 10-0 winners.

Meanwhile, Team 2 hosted Corstorphine 1 at Ladywood with James Wighton deputising for the injured Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and Ian Hislop standing in for Charlie Brindley. They both joined Gary McDougal in the knowledge that their Division 1 status had been secured by their 7-3 victory v Fife in Week 27. For the hosts, Stan Stoodley had an undefeated night in singles play but a terrific win by James v Amjad Mohammed and a win for Ian v Artur Labecki combined with wins against both for Gary meant the doubles would be crucial to the outcome of this match. Ian and Gary were victorious in 4 ends resulting in the spoils being shared between the teams with a 5-5 draw.

In Division 2, Team 3 finished their season off with a visit to Murrayfield 7. James Wighton, Ian Hislop and Abby Wighton were never in trouble as they comfortably dispatched their Edinburgh rivals by an 8-2 scoreline. A perfect night was spoiled for the team by Richard Lo who defeated both James and Abby, the latter being particularly unlucky with an 11-9 loss in the fifth. Other than those two matches, however, Team 3 only lost one end in the other 8 matches played as they ended their season in 4th place.

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 29. This week’s undefeated players were all of Team 1, Ian from Team 3 and all of Team 5. Normally we don’t like being “soft” and not finding reasons to differentiate between players but this week we can’t overlook the contributions made by George and Louis in Team 5’s run in to promotion. Of his nine singles played over the last 4 weeks of the season Louis won 8 and also won all 3 doubles in which he played. Over the same period, George played 12 singles and 3 doubles – fifteen matches played, and fifteen matches won. With a combined 27 out of 28 matches won there’s no doubt that Team 5 would not have gained promotion had it not been for their sterling efforts. But hey this week they both lost 3 ends in their singles matches – Craig on the other hand only lost 1! Never mind, Louis and George, you got a nice write up - this week’s winner led from the front in the Team’s most important match of the season and his top 10 individual averages finish has also been key to the Team’s success – Well done Craig.

In a solid week for the Club, there was nothing particularly controversial which affected us. Oh, wait a minute – the Handicap Cup! Quick recap – 3 teams through to the quarter final stage (a terrific achievement) – Greig, Kristian and Ian H bit the dust with a narrow 5-4 loss to Edinburgh University – we could moan about a plus 2 handicap for a guy with a forehand loop to die for and a third ball attack that wouldn’t go amiss at a much higher level, but then again we had Kristian at +7 who strolled through his games with great serves and great style! George, Sonny and Abby made it to the semi final with a great win over North Merchiston – nothing to moan about there. So, what of our 3rd quarter finalists – they faced a Murrayfield outfit for the third time in the competition. Sorry, what do you mean it’s not been played yet? Deadline was 5th April. That deadline was set in February when the email came out to get the games organised. It will be easier this year because of the free weeks built into the schedule – let’s not bother having a dedicated week set aside for the Handicap Cup - what a load of nonsense! Despite about 20 emails dating back to 25th Feb (maybe a slight exaggeration) and direct conversations with Murrayfield to try and get them to offer dates, by 1st April we had still not had any contact from them. Maybe we shouldn’t have emailed a further reminder on 1st April suggesting that we’d be happy just to claim the match (somewhat tongue in cheek but not entirely so!). That at least got a response! Let’s play this Thursday – excellent, we’ll wait for 5 weeks to get a date arranged then get 48 hours notice of when to play - Ridiculous! No surprise we couldn’t get our team organised for then so here we are still waiting on an alternative, Murrayfield having offered this Wednesday when two of our team are involved in their final league matches of the season! We’re not particularly moaning about Murrayfield’s part in all of this (well maybe we are a little) but the real issue is that there should and needs to be weeks set aside for the Handicap Cup. Then everyone knows where they stand – if a team can’t play the match that week, then tough! As has happened in previous seasons, concessions will simply have to be granted. Instead we have a scenario where it looks like our semi final will be completed before the other quarter final is even arranged!

Speaking of which good luck to Penicuik in that semi final this coming Wednesday – they’ll be kept company by a couple of derby matches to finish the league season off for the club. And finally, a big shout out to Hannah, the Club’s newest Internationalist – she had a great weekend in Northern Ireland representing Scotland in the British Schools International. A great experience and we understand it brought back some tear-jerking memories for her dad - his one and only appearance – in fact it was a “non-appearance” - for his country as a youngster was also meant to be in Northern Ireland. Oh God, how many times have we heard that story????!!!

Week 30 already and the season's over for most - where have those 30 weeks gone??!!

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ELTTL - Week 28 Report

31/3/2019

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We’ve nearly reached the end of the 2018/19 Season as Week 28 has now come and gone.

With the Team 1 v 2 Derby match postponed, Team 5 v Team 6 in Division 4 took centre stage at Ladywood on Wednesday. There was a lot riding on this match with Team 5 still in with a chance of promotion (although they needed help from others). They called on the services of Team 7’s George Wilson who joined regulars Craig Johnson and Millie Bennett as they faced Rachel Petrie, Craig Linton and Adam Woodhouse. Did anyone tell Team 6, who had little to play for, that Team 5 desperately needed a win? If we did, that didn’t stop Team 6 throwing everything at their promotion chasing clubmates! George started off with a good win v Craig L before Rachel raced into a 2-0 lead v Millie. Rachel’s resolve would surely have been broken when Millie came back to 2-2 with a 17-15 win in the 4th end - but no - Rachel dug deep and proceeded to win the 5th end comfortably. Craig then defeated Adam before the scores were levelled again as Craig L defeated Millie in 4 ends – 2-2 match score and Team 5, keeping El Presidente up to date by text, were worried! George again gave the favourites a lead by winning match 5 v Adam before match 6 was to prove crucial. Craig J v Rachel – at 1-1 in ends, Craig scraped over the line 12-10 in the 3rdand had that gone the other way who knows what might have happened – as it was Craig got more confident and ran out victorious in 4 ends. In the battle of the Craig’s it was Team 6’s Craig who won in a fifth end nail biter but that was the only other win for Team 6 as Team 5 secured a hard fought 7-3 victory. With the help of a huge favour from Haddington 4 the next night as they defeated Fife, Team 5 now find themselves in 2nd spot in the division and their destiny is within their own control – 4 or 5 weeks ago they could not have asked or hoped for anything more than that – one match to go and a victory in that match will secure them promotion. Good luck.

Elsewhere, Team 3 of James Wighton, Ian Hislop and Abby Wighton faced a nerve-racking tussle at Ladywood v ESC 3 in Division 2. This match was one of those which could easily have turned on a couple of points here and there. After the first 3 singles, the Penicuik trio held a 2-1 lead. After the next round of singles, the scores were tied at 3-3. A win in the doubles gave the hosts the advantage and James secured a point with a win in Match 8, but ESC kept the contest alive with a win in Match 9. The stage was set for Ian H v Gary Woodhouse – talk about an unorthodox match-up! 2-0 up and Ian was coasting to victory – hang on 11-5, 11-7 wins for Gary and the game was level at 2-2. The deciding set had everything, including we’re told, some amazing attacking play from Ian H. Really?? We witnessed Ian playing in Round 1 of the Handicap Cup where he played 95 shot rallies over and over and over again without a positive shot! But no, attack he did, and fortune favoured the brave as he ran out an 11-8 winner securing a 6-4 victory for the Ladywood side.

Our first team to complete their 2018/19 season was Team 4 of Julian Taylor, Tony Brentnall and Sonny Taylor as their final match took them on their travels to play ESC 4. They’ll be wishing the season wasn’t over as they romped home to a 10-0 win rounding off a decent campaign for this trio. Having stepped up from Division 4, Julian and Sonny can be proud of their achievements this year – a 4th place finish is guaranteed and Julian finishes with a very respectable 75% win rate. Sonny may just about hang on to a top 10 individual finish on 65% just a little behind Tony on 68% who, after a couple of years off, showed glimpses of being back to near his best.

Team 7’s season could have been so different had Phil Daly not got himself injured just before the 2nd half of the season started – eye surgery was followed by a slow recovery and although not 100%, to avoid having to concede, he bravely took to the table for his first competitive match this year as he and Kristian Skotzen faced West Lothian 8. For the third time in March, Team 7 had to play with just two players and on this occasion, they weren’t able to overturn their 3-0 deficit. The good news, however, was that Phil won 2 of his 3 matches and that was a very positive outcome for him! Kristian was disappointed with only 1 win and the pair don’t want to talk about the fifth end of their doubles match which they lost 11-1! A 7-3 defeat for Team 7 but we don’t care about that – it was just good to see Phil back in action.

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 28. This week’s undefeated players were Ian Hislop from Team 3, all of Team 4 and George playing up for Team 5. Harsh though it is, Team 4 were playing opposition already relegated from Division 3 so they’re all out of the running. George has been in great form of late and his 3 against Team 6 was a terrific boost for Team 5 – but he won it last week and we don’t want his head getting too big!! Gary still can’t believe that this man won last week’s player of the match award with a two whilst playing up for Team 2, this week he definitely deserved it – 3 singles wins and a doubles victory in a 6-4 win – add to that the fact that he played some attacking TT (we still can’t believe it – did anyone catch it on camera?) and there can be no doubt that Ian H is our deserved winner.

And finally, our Controversy of the Week section.

Away from our matches this week, another Club raised with us a matter which has almost now become the norm rather than the exception – playing matches on two tables! The Team in question, we’re told, have played their last 3 away matches on 2 tables. Whilst it is understood that given time constraints, this may be unavoidable, in the three venues in question, they played on completely different makes of tables. Our source suggested this was crazy, as in each venue players were practicing on tables that were identical to the one being used for the match. They felt that with a little extra effort this could have been easily avoided and they feel this should perhaps be a rule for forthcoming seasons. We dislike the two-table set-up for different reasons. In the “good old days” there was no doubt that playing in the League was about being part of a “Team” – the League is of course a “team event” but, in our view, the “team spirit” which used to exist in League matches is slowly being eroded away by “having to play” on two tables (sometimes 3). This can be especially hard for youngsters (or David Melrose) who need the support of teammates to sometimes get them through the games! For some (although others would say they should be concentrating solely on their own game) they can become easily distracted as they glance over, wondering how their teammate is getting on. Of course, for some, maybe it is just more about individual performances but that’s not what it’s supposed to be. Whilst we accept that playing on two tables has almost become inevitable (we do it ourselves) because of venue difficulties, we wonder whether there is any other way of dealing with it. Get rid of the doubles and go back to 9 matches? That’s what they do in the West of Scotland League. Only play six singles as we do in the Scottish National League? If we want to keep the doubles fixture, play six singles and a doubles match? In these times when we are looking to attract youngsters to the game, finishing at 10pm (or after) is going to put many parents off letting their young ones take part. In recent years adapting the format of league matches has been looked at but never voted for - maybe we need to look at it again – wouldn’t we all benefit from a shorter match format??

And finally, as we said in our match reports, it was great to see Phil back in action. When asked how his vision had withstood the test of match play, he replied that he had been OK but bizarrely he kept thinking his shots had caught an edge when they hadn’t and so clearly his eyesight wasn’t back to normal yet. Phil, we hate to break this news to you – that’s nothing to do with your operation – everyone at the Club knows that you’ve always seen edges (but only on your shots) when no one else in the Hall has!!

April is upon us and Divisional winners, promotion issues and relegation issues have all been decided, apart from Division 4. That will be dealt with in the coming week!

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ELTTL - Week 27 Report

25/3/2019

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As the season nears its conclusion, Week 27 was one to remember for the Club.

Team 1 knew that a point v Murrayfield 5 would secure them the Division 1 title. Greig McDonell was replaced by Colin Green as he joined David Melrose and Iain Johnstone. This would be easy – Murrayfield 5 were languishing in the bottom half of the table. Or maybe not! Luke, Stella and Simon played some terrific stuff, all defeating Iain and pushing the other two close. Simon’s win v David was a classic, but the crucial turning point was a doubles win and a 5 set win for David v Stella. At 2-1 down Colin’s team talk to David went down well – “you do realise she’s playing with pimples” said Colin – we’re afraid we can’t print the response! A 6-4 win for Team 1 results in them securing top spot with two games still to play.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Team 2 travelled to Inverkeithing to face a huge match against their relegation rivals, Fife 2. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and Gary McDougal were joined by Ian Hislop standing in for Charlie Brindley. A point for the visitors would have them in a strong position, a win would ensure they avoid the drop whilst a defeat was unthinkable! When Ian and Krzysztof lost their opening exchanges, it looked bleak for Team 2’s chances. A win for Gary was then followed by a terrific 5 set victory for Ian v Lance Stockdale which brought the scores level. Another win for Gary was followed by a 5-set loss for Krzysztof and the teams entered that crucial doubles fixture locked at 3-3. 2-1 down in the doubles, Ian and Gary rallied brilliantly for an 11-9 win in the fifth! That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Fife side who lost the last 3 singles by 3-1 scorelines. A brilliant 7-3 win for the visitors, with Gary the star of the night, and having avoided relegation last season on game difference, Team 2’s Division 1 status has been retained for another season – 5 points clear of second bottom who have only 4 points available to them. Well done Team 2.

Our 4thTeam of Julian Taylor, Tony Brentnall and Sonny Taylor seem to be finishing the season on a high. One of their worst losses of the first half of the season was a 6-4 defeat to Edinburgh International at Ladywood. The reverse fixture was a different story. 3 wins for Julian was added to by Tony and Sonny both winning 2 as Team 4 secured a 7-3 victory against the 3rdplaced team in Division 3. Only one match left for Team 4 who look destined for a 4th place finish.

In Division 4, Team 5 faced another tough match v West Lothian opposition at Ladywood. WL8 were the visitors and they fielded their strongest possible line up of Dave Stephen, Tommy Hamill and young Jamie Toner playing up from Team 9. Using a player from a lower team ranked higher than regular players – whatever will Haddington think of that!! Shocking behaviour by our opponents – oh hang on – Team 5 again called on the services of Team 6’s Louis McLeod and Team 7’s George Wilson who joined forces with Stuart Bennett. When the hosts took a 5-2 advantage after the doubles, this match looked over, but wins for Dave Stephen and an impressive 3-0 win for young Jamie over Louis meant that George had to take to the table for the final match of the night knowing that a victory was essential for the team win. When he lost the first set 8-11, panic could be seen in Team Captain Stuart’s face. He pulled level in the second end before the third end was pivotal. An 11-9 win was greeted with George’s trademark screech of delight and Tommy’s chances had gone – with confidence oozing from him, George romped home 11-1 in the 4thand a 6-4 win was secured! Team 5 are still in there fighting – but only just! If Craig Johnson could ever come back from his mystery absence over the last few weeks, who knows what might be possible!

Team 6 couldn’t muster a team from their 5 registered players last Monday night and to avoid a concession, Hannah from Team 7 was dragged away from her Monday night guides to make up a two-player team with Craig Linton! Who knows what may have happened if Team 6 had been able to field a full team? 2 good wins for Hannah, 1 for Craig and a fantastic comeback from the dead victory in the doubles and Team 6 just missed out on a point as they fell to a 6-4 defeat!

Having played in a two for Team 6, Hannah then had to play for her own team in a two as well, as she and Kristian Skotzen hosted West Lothian 9. 3-0 down before a ball was hit, the first 4 singles of the night all went the way of the Penicuik duo and another remarkable comeback victory was on the cards. The doubles, however, brought the visitors back into the match as Tommy Toner and David McRae squeezed home in 5 ends. Not to be thwarted however, Hannah rounded off a terrific week with a victory over Tommy leaving Kristian the chance to win the match v Neil Webb. Right handed Pusher v left handed attacker? There was only going to be one winner – a lefty attacker always wins these tussles. Well, maybe not at this level where pushers can be effective! Neil comfortably won in 3 as the spoils were shared. Whilst Team 7 would have gladly taken a 5-5 draw at the beginning of the night, they left the more disappointed team!

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 27. This week’s undefeated players were Colin from Team 1, Gary from Team 2, Julian from Team 4, George playing up for Team 5 and Hannah from Team 7. Julian never played in the doubles and Hannah lost her doubles fixture so they’re out the running. Colin upset his teammate, so he’s overlooked this week as well! Gary had a fantastic night for Team 2 and his 3 wins, and a doubles victory, were vital to Team 2 surviving in Division 1. By all accounts he played some terrific TT and according to his teammates his level of play over the last few weeks has just got better and better. But hang on – he didn’t even win the player of the match award – that went to Ian H! What did you do to annoy your opponents, Gary? This week’s winner showed true grit and determination and secured his undefeated night under the greatest of pressure in the last match of the night. He kept his cool whilst others in the hall were losing theirs – 3 singles wins and a doubles win in a 6-4 victory keeping Team 5 in the running for promotion at the same time – well done George!

After last week’s mammoth controversy, a shorter one this week. Three regular topics again come under the microscope – Umpiring, postponements and player behaviour.

In Team 7s match, a certain onlooker pointed out to the WL umpire that a WL serve in the doubles had clearly been a fault. It had arrived on the receiver’s right half of the table but had actually started its journey on the left half of the server’s end – not a foul serve you see very often – none of the players had noticed (or knew the rule) and the umpire didn’t see it. The point stayed in favour of the serving team, but it was suggested that the umpire needed to stand up to actually judge whether a serve in doubles was fair or not, which he duly did. Our point? What on earth did it have to do with the onlooker? If we rule that the umpire’s decision is final, then players and spectators should just let them get on with it and mistakes will inevitably continue to be part of the game. There’s nothing worse than a player or teammate trying to make the decisions – invisible lets, edges, etc. In this case although the point wasn’t overturned, WL 9 went on to lose about 5 of the next 7 or 8 points and the WL Team Captain pointed out he had been disturbed by the “outside involvement” – and he’s right – butt out and let the umpire get on with it.

The issue of postponements is probably our favourite topic. Team 6 couldn’t field two from their registered 5 players and were refused a postponement by West Lothian 7 – no hard feelings – top of the Division with only a couple of games left and in a tight fight at the top of the league we would have done the same, wouldn’t we? Jings, is that another Club for whom winning is more important than supposedly being fair?? Whatever would Haddington think? WL Team Captain Ros suggested that there should be a Rule that each club must grant a “minimum number” of postponement requests each season – now there’s an interesting proposal. Not sure it would ever work in practice though – would you have to store up a couple of your required minimums until clubs that you perhaps liked requested one!! What if you refused one early on in the season and then no one else asked? The scenarios are endless! It doesn’t really address the issue anyway – a refusal of a postponement, for whatever reason, will always have the capability of causing ill feeling – just do away with them completely! Play the fixture or tough!

And finally, player behaviour. As George was trying to win the crucial last match of the night v WL8, Team 1’s David and Murrayfield’s Luke were having a real humdinger of a match where one yelp of joy was followed by another and another and another – you get the picture no doubt. The decibel level of the shouts was going up and up it seemed with every point won or lost and not only could it be heard throughout the Hall, Ladywood received some complaints from neighbouring residents! (Ok that part is maybe made up) Our esteemed Club Secretary, supporting Team 5 at one end of the hall wasn’t happy! Despite recovering from his hip operation, we’ve never seen him move so fast as he flew out of his chair, when enough had clearly become enough, to go over to Team 1’s match and ask them politely to turn the volume down a little (well, we’re not sure those would have been his exact words but certainly words to that effect!) Fortunately, he was intercepted on his way and made his views on the matter known in no uncertain terms to another committee member who happened to have come over to see what all the noise was about! There’s a far more important match going on at the other end of the Hall claimed our Club Secretary – final match of the night to decide the overall win and the noise was affecting the players! Hmm, an argument about what was the most important match of the night wasn’t what the issue should really have been about – after a small debate on that point, David let out a scream of delight which this time signified the end of his match and peace fell upon Ladywood again. George managed to carry on and win his game and none of Team 1 were any the wiser as to the irritation which had been caused (well up until now they weren’t anyway!) Should players have to keep their emotions in check? How loud does it have to be before it could be argued to be interfering with another match? Do we really expect our "player umpires" to do anything about it? At the Inter League at the weekend we had everything from minor girls crying, junior boys fist pumping aggressively, senior men screaming to Vets Men kicking barriers in frustration. Until something is done about that kind of behaviour (if indeed it’s an issue) at Tournaments and Events like the Inter League then we’re going to be stuck with it – and some of course would say there’s nothing wrong with getting emotionally carried away in the match and showing your emotions – just ask James Wighton – his behaviour on the table is shocking at times!!

Only a couple of weeks left of the regular season – how will we cope without it…..

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ELTTL - Week 26 Report

17/3/2019

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We swithered about whether to just concentrate on our controversy of the week section this week such was the amount of time taken up by it but in the end, Week 26 of the Edinburgh League was a good one on the table for the Club with the theme being Penicuik v West Lothian.

In Division 1, Team 2 hosted West Lothian 3 and when WL showed up with only two players, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Charlie Brindley and Gary McDougal suddenly had a chance to get a huge win in their battle to avoid relegation. It was therefore disappointing when only a draw could be achieved, the difference on the night being Keith Mackay for the visitors who was unbeaten, a winless Charlie and a defeat in the doubles by a 14-12 in the fifth margin ended the hopes of a victory for the hosts. If a couple of points had gone the other way, Team 2 may well have secured safety – as it is they face a huge match this week v Fife – a win in that and their Div 1 status shall be secured…..

Meanwhile our 3rd and 4th teams have little to play for in the remaining weeks of the season, both look likely to finish 4th in Divisions 2 and 3 respectively. Team 3 faced WL 4 at Bathgate last Monday and secured a good 6-4 win, Abby Wighton starring for the visitors with an undefeated night in singles play, Ian Hislop added 2 whilst James Wighton had an off night but contributed the all-important 6th win. Team 4 faced WL 6 at Ladywood - Julian Taylor, Tony Brentnall and Sonny Taylor got off to a flyer (4-0 up) and were never pegged back as they recorded a 7-3 win. Julian won 3 whilst Tony and Sonny both won 2.

In Division 4, Team 5 faced an away match against WL9 on Thursday night amidst all the controversy referred to below! A 7-3 win for the visitors keeps them in with a chance of promotion, thanks to 3 wins each for Louis and George playing up from Teams 6 and 7 respectively in the absence of John Bald and Craig Johnson.

The two non “West Lothian matches” featured Teams 6 and 7. Team 6 were subjected to their worst defeat of the season, a 10-0 thrashing at the hands of Haddington 4 whilst Team 7 travelled to Edinburgh International where they secured a 9-1 win, young Hannah showing that she’s picking up the wrong things from old Dad as she got very annoyed at losing the last match for a whitewash victory although unlike how her old man would have reacted she was reportedly still smiling at the end of the night - we'll soon get that knocked out of her!

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 26. This week’s undefeated players were Abby from Team 3, Julian from Team 4, George and Kristian from Team 7 and George and Louis when they played up for Team 5. 6 wins in a week for George must surely make him favourite. But our Committee says no – sorry George! Louis had a nightmare on Wednesday night for his own team with a duck, the first time this season that he has failed to win at least two of his singles. In his 17 previous matches for Team 6, he’d only lost 7 singles. The losses to Haddington dented his confidence badly and so it is hugely to his credit that, after some gentle persuasion, he was prepared the next night to make the trip to Bathgate. His undefeated night (including a doubles win) showed his class. We should also mention that he was Runner-Up in the Band 4 Event at the Edinburgh Championships, a win against Murrayfield’s high-flying Charlie McGowan in the Group stage being a highlight – Well done to Louis!

Hmmm, that was a shorter than normal round up of the week’s action – what’s left to talk about?

Our friends from Haddington have complained about the fact that in Division 4 our Team 7 conceded their fixture to our Team 5 scheduled for 13th February. Rule 6 d states:

“For re-arranged matches between teams from the same club that are not played within four playing weeks the match will be void and no points awarded to either team….”

Our reasoning and explanation for the concession, a copy of which was sent to Haddington, was as follows:

We were under significant pressure from the match secretary who had emailed to remind us of Rule 6 d - it was pointed out that he had already voided one match this season as the teams had failed to play their replayed fixture within the 4 week period allowed. It was made clear to us that the game had to be played by 13th March or the same fate could befall us. In terms of the match itself, hindsight is a wonderful thing! Our Team 7 lost Phil as a result of an eye injury just after Xmas. We wanted this match to be a fair fight so when Kristian wasn’t available for the original fixture rather than playing 2 v 3 Team 7 sought a postponement. Looking back now Team 7 should probably just have played the match with two players. Given our Hall availability, we have significant difficulty in rearranging matches. With pressure on from the League, the match was provisionally rescheduled for our Thursday club night on 7th March. Unfortunately, Team 7 could not raise a team for this date (not even a two) hence the decision was disappointingly made that a concession required to be granted. Even had an extension to the 4 week limit been given to get this fixture rearranged, Team 5’s number 1, John Bald, who would have played in the original fixture, left us just after 7th March and won’t be available for the rest of the season - it would have been very unfair on Team 5 if they had to then play a weakened team as a result of a postponement request from another of the club’s teams! In the circumstances, the only fair thing to do was for the team who requested the postponement to concede the fixture, just as would have been the case for any match in the League involving different Clubs.

Haddington’s complaint? A 10-0 win may skew the game difference come the end of the season. Haddington 4 still have a chance of promotion, together with WL 7, Fife and our Team 5. Having given our explanation we thought that was an end of the matter. Oh how wrong! Whatever Haddington’s agenda is they sent a further message after their Team 4 seemingly raised the matter during their thrashing of our Team 6. The terms of that email were disappointing and disrespectful to say the least, raising issues about how our desire to win was usurping fair play and calling into question the integrity of our decision to concede the match. What a load of codswallop! The only Club which seem to be wanting to win above all else seems to be Haddington and for a Club with whom we thought we had a very good and close relationship, it is even more disappointing. In the end we took the moral high ground and didn’t reply in an equally confrontational and disrespectful manner. We simply pointed out that we were disappointed by the tone of the email given that PTTC has always had a high regard for Haddington TTC and indeed for the author of the email.

But hold on a minute, a number of issues were raised bringing our integrity into question. We think it is only fair to point out the hypocrisy of the points made. If promotion is on the line surely a club will try and put out their best team to give that team the best chance of gaining promotion. It was suggested by Haddington (although perhaps we are being unkind to the Club and the views are simply those of the author of the complaint) that it would be disappointing if Louis and George were to play up for Team 5 in the remaining fixtures. Now hang on a minute Haddington, this comes from the Club who registered a player, none other than one of the nicest guys we know, Pete Lugton, to simply play 1 match against their closest rivals in Division 1 for the second promotion place that division! Really? And you want to have a go about playing players up in important matches? Let’s take a look at Haddington 4 actually – a certain Martin Hayman from their Team 5 played up v our Team 7 and secured them a vital point by defeating George. Should that result not be allowed and a 6-4 victory for Team 7 be put in its place? What about young Liam who also played up for Team 4 in a 7-3 victory where he won 2 - should that result be a draw instead? There was no complaint about PTTC 5 playing Haddington 4 when they were understrength, and Craig Linton played up from our team 6 - maybe of course that's because Haddington won 6-4? We think we’re getting the picture now. It’s only an issue if the players who play up play for an opponent’s club and they end up winning! Yeah that makes sense!

Had the shoe been on the other foot we question whether Haddington, or indeed any other Club, faced with the situation which arose would have made any decision other than the one taken by us. If Haddington 4 granted a postponement to HTTC 5 and then couldn’t rearrange within 4 weeks and the League were telling them that if it's not played the match will be voided, would it seriously be suggested that HTTC 4, in the running for promotion, would just let 2 points go? Of course they wouldn’t! They would have done exactly the same as our Team 5 - the other team asked for the postponement and they will have to suffer the consequences of that.

So that’s the end of that issue and as that sound and reasoned Mr Roger Thomas pointed out, let’s see who gets promoted based on how the teams play over the last few weeks of the season rather than as a result of hypocritical, petty and disrespectful complaints being made – we wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment and hope that in hindsight the author of the complaint sees fit to apologise for some of his comments (we can but hope)!

Hold on – it’s not over! Having raised the complaint to the League, they’re now involved and are “strongly encouraging us to play the fixture” – they will give us an extension on the 4-week time limit! You’ve got to be joking?? So, Team 7, who could only field two players for the original fixture now have a chance to play a full side against Team 5 who have lost their best player due to his departure from these shores – yeah that seems a really good idea – let’s see how our Team 5 players react to that! And next year there is going to be a rule change suggested so that you cannot concede Intra Club fixtures! Bizarre in the extreme. It seems astonishing to us that complying with the rules seems to have now led PTTC being criticised in certain quarters - entirely unjustified criticism – but hey who cares about that – let’s just make the rules up as we go along to keep certain people happy. We should add that it was suggested that WL were also perturbed by our concession, however, in fairness to WL, it was pointed out to us by them that there had been an individual comment made to the League in passing and it appears that said individual, the foregoing explanation having been made known, accepts that we could do little else.

Well then – a somewhat short round-up of the week’s action followed by a rather mammoth controversy of the week section! And the story will no doubt rumble on to the end of the season. Is winning more important than fair play – complaining about things that other Clubs do, moaning about playing players up, but only if it's the opposition, suggesting it's unfair to put your strongest side out when chasing promotion (but again only if other Clubs are doing it) and trying to get rules changed to punish another Club who have done nothing wrong and indeed have complied with the rules to the letter - well, looking at that evidence for some it seems winning is everything!

To end on a lighter note well done to all our players who competed this weekend at the Edinburgh Champs and in the Veterans Nationals today - particular mention to Ian Hislop, runner up in the Over 70's National Champs, Colin Green, winner of the Edinburgh Vets Championship and Hannah for winning the Under 13 Event.

Good luck to all as the fight for promotion, titles and relegation carries on in Week 27.

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ELTTL - Week 30 Report

ELTTL - Week 29 Report

ELTTL - Week 28 Report

ELTTL - Week 27 Report

ELTTL - Week 26 Report

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