Week 16 saw four of our five teams in action. First up on Monday 23rd January was Team 5 (Patrick Shanks, Aidan Craig & Sian McDonald) as they travelled to take on North Merchiston 6 in Division 4. The Edinburgh outfit have the fortune of being able to play their 100% man, Michal Jesionowski, a player playing in Division 4 of the League with a rating in excess of 1000. He kept his unbeaten record but was pushed to 5 ends by Patrick. Sian was unfortunate in match 2 to lose out to one of the Edinburgh team’s up and coming youngsters in five ends. When the doubles was reached the visitors trailed 4-2 and with the 100% man still to play his last match, the team knew they couldn’t afford any slip-ups. Aidan & Patrick won in 4 ends before Patrick won his second match of the night. With Sian losing out to Michal, it was left to Aidan to try and salvage a point for the Penicuik trio and at 2-0 up it looked like plain sailing – but when the Merchiston player then won ends 3 and 4 the match was in the balance – Aidan held his nerve for an 11-9 fifth end win and by that tiny margin the Penicuik side secured a 5-5 draw.
 
The following night Team 4 made the long journey to Haddington to take on Haddington 5 in Division 3. The first half of the season had seen the Midlothian side lose out 6-4. Rachel Petrie, Bob Porteous and Jim Jack were looking to improve on that result. Bob had a terrific 5 set win in the first match of the night and when Jim won match 2, things looked bright for the visitors. Rachel lost match 3 but the two game lead was restored when Bob won match 4. Losses followed however for Jim and Rachel and it was 3-3 going into the crucial doubles. Bob & Rachel secured the doubles victory in 4 ends to give the visitors the advantage again. Rachel will be disappointed not to have contributed and her loss in match 8 brought the scores level again at 4-4. Bob’s win in match 9, however, secured a point but Jim was unable to secure the win as Haddington hung on for a 5-5 draw.
 
At home on Thursday, Team 1 faced Haddington 1 in the Premier Division. With Greig absent, this was going to be tough for Team 1. David Melrose played his first game of 2023 as he joined Colin Green – Colin won two and the pair were close in the doubles but an 8-2 defeat followed for the home side.
 
Finally on Thursday night, Team 2 visited Haddington in Division 1. This was one of those matches which could have gone either way – Gary McDougal, Abby Wighton & Krzysztof Lazkiewicz haven’t had much luck this season – at 2-0 down Krys then won games 3 and 5 and Abby won match 4 to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. Gary has had a poor season so far by his standards and a winless night for him put pressure on the other two. Abby played well for two wins and a point was there for the taking if Krys could convert his final match and remain unbeaten on the night – He was 2-1 up but lost the last two ends as Team 2 fell to another 6-4 defeat – their sixth such defeat of the season.
 
Week 16’s player of the week award goes to our only undefeated player this week – well done for not only his three singles wins but also for his win in the doubles which helped secure a 5-5 draw for his team – a terrific week for Bob.
 
Controversy time – a short one this week and one which we did in the first half of the season as well – Haddington 2 have now secured two 6-4 victories against our Team 2 in Division 1. The difference in both matches has been Haddington’s new recruit this season, Craig Stenton – 5 singles matches won out of 6 and two doubles victories – effectively of the 12 games won by Haddington he’s contributed 7 of them!  What’s controversial about that? Rachel encouraging the said Mr Stenton to try out Haddington after he turned up at Penicuik for a practice before the season started is what remains controversial – oh Haddington are also a nice club says Rachel – they’ll be close to you – give them a try!! Never to be forgotten or forgiven Rachel!! 

As for the table tennis, there was a huge palaver at the beginning of the season over North Merchiston's Graham Booth - his rating at the beginning of the season was 952 - he wasn't allowed to play in Division 4, objections were then taken to him playing in Division 3 and ultimately he had to play in Division 2. On Monday 16th January our 5th team came up against a player who at the date of the match had a rating of 1002 - what division is he playing in? Yeah, you guessed it - Division 4 - there must be something wrong there surely? That puts the player above everyone in Merchiston's Teams 3, 4 and 5 and as at the 16th of January he was also ahead of two of the players who play in Division 1 for NM 2! Weird! No doubt there's some explanation for this and it will sort itself out when the player eventually loses a game - if he loses a game!

On we go to Week 17 - we seem to have caught up with our reports!!

Week 15 of the ELTTL Season couldn’t get any worse than Week 14, could it?
 
Team 5 hosted Edinburgh University 6 in their Division 4 encounter at Ladywood on Thursday 19th January and they were given a boost by the fact that the students could only turn up with two players – 3-0 up to start this was a real opportunity for Patrick Shanks, Sian McDonald and Roscoe Cairney to secure a victory. Patrick made it 4-0 on the night by winning the first match played in four ends and when Sian won her first match in 4 ends a point had effectively been secured. The students mounted a bit of a comeback – losses for Sian and Roscoe and a loss in the doubles before another loss for Roscoe meant that the score was 5-4 with one match left to play – Patrick held his nerve to get the hosts over the line for a 6-4 victory.
 
Thursday night also saw Team 2 in action against University opposition in Division 1 – No such luck for Team 2 although Uni did have a player playing up! Alasdair Crofton and Jakub Kara did the business for the visitors in a fairly one sided contest as they recorded an 8-2 victory against Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Abby Wighton. Krys and Gary picked up one win each. 
 
Our third home match on Thursday saw West Lothian 3 in action against Team 4 in Division 3. The first half of the season had ended well for Team 4 but in this match they were looking to overturn an 8-2 defeat from the first half of the season. That was always going to be tough for Rachel Petrie, Bob Porteous and Jim Jack and so it proved. Matches 2 and 3 could have gone differently and had they who knows perhaps the result would have been more in doubt – as it was, Rachel lost in 5 as did Jim and after Bob lost his first match the writing was on the wall for Team 4 – Bob was the only winner on the night as the Bathgate outfit recorded a convincing 9-1 victory.
 
The theme of Week 15 was matches against Edinburgh Uni and Friday night saw Teams 1 and 3 both travel to Edinburgh. Team 1 were still understrength and had to rely on Colin Green again, joined by an unwell Greig McDonell and Hannah McDonell playing up from Division 2. The visitors came away from this match thoroughly frustrated by the fact that they didn’t at least secure a draw – Greig, in his first two matches held 2-1 leads which he let slip, losing both in 5 ends. The draw was still possible though with a doubles victory but lo and behold, Colin and Greig let a 2-1 lead slip again losing in five ends. A 6-4 loss was hard to take.
 
Meanwhile, the match of the week was taking place in the other hall as Team 3 took on University 3 in a crucial Division 2 clash – Team 3 started the night in second place in the table but only 2 points clear of the students in third place. The students are the only side to have taken any points from League Leaders Murrayfield. When James Wighton lost out in five ends in the first match of the night and Ian Hislop failed to record an end in match 2, things looked bleak for the visitors. Julian scraped over the line in five in his first match to get the visitors on the board but the two game advantage was restored as James lost his second match of the night. Game 5 was a bit of a turning point – Julian was dead and buried – 2-1 down and 8-3 down in the fourth, he somehow managed to turn the match around by winning the fourth end 11-9 and cantering to an 11-1 deciding end victory – Ian then levelled the match with a win in Game 6 before a mammoth tussle in the doubles saw James & Julian secure a terrific 3-2 win. The visitors held their first lead of the night. When Julian won his final singles a point was secured and that was followed by a 4 end victory for James to give the visitors the win. Ian lost the last match of the night but a 6-4 victory had been secured – what a terrific result for Team 3.
 
Our player of the week is a fairly straightforward choice this week – well done to Colin and Patrick who had undefeated nights in singles play, but for his vital three wins and a crucial doubles win there could only be one man in contention this week – his comeback from the dead was a real turning point for Team 3 – a great night for Julian who wins this award for the first time this season – Well done to him.
 
And finally our controversy of the week section. Team 1’s match at St Leonard’s Land was played in atrocious conditions. The Uni seem to play in two halls – Team 3 played in the Dance Studio (we think) and that seems to have benefitted from some new lighting – their conditions seemed to be excellent – maybe it was that contrast that made the gym seem so terrible. Played on two tables, both of which were old and faded the lighting was poor all over the hall but in particular one of the dodgy lights at the far side of the tables was out completely – maybe our players’ aged poor eyesight contributed to the darkness as well but it was genuinely so radically different from the other side of the table that at times it was difficult to pick up the ball if you were any distance away from the table. Of course it’s the same for both teams so there was no advantage to the hosts but the conditions were atrocious – our various other teams have also commented earlier in the season on the poor lighting (and whilst it does appear that one of the halls has now been “upgraded”), the gym is, by a country mile, the worst venue to play TT in the League in our view. What do the rules say about venues in the League? Should we enforce a requirement for venues to meet a certain standard? Probably not is the answer – we want as many clubs in the League as possible. In fairness things are much improved from the good old days – our favourite venue from the 80s/90s must have been the Pakistan Association – we remember one night playing in someone’s garage with all the paraphernalia that we all probably have lying around in a garage – the seating was provided by an old couch at the side of the table – now that was the good old days! 
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The first week back after the festive period started with Team 2’s trip to North Merchiston 3 on Monday 9th January. Team 2’s only win of the season came in the reverse fixture at Ladywood at the beginning of the season but the festive period seems to have resulted in NM managing to recruit a new player, Quentin Renau, and he was undefeated with 3 singles wins to give the hosts the advantage. The match, however, was still in the balance but a five end loss for Gary McDougal against Nick Thomas (Gary was 2-0 up) and a deuce in the fifth doubles loss for Gary and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz dented the visitors hopes – Abby Wighton won 1, Gary won 1 and Krys won 2 in a disappointing 6-4 loss – it’s still early but the bookies have closed the book on the chances of Team 2 surviving the drop!
 
Team 1 were understrength as they hosted Murrayfield 2 at Ladywood on Thursday 12th January. Only one regular player available, our request for a postponement was refused by Murrayfield (Happy New Year). Rather than conceding the fixture, Team 1 made a last minute plea for replacements and Krys from Division 1 and Ian Hislop from Division 2 came to the rescue. Colin Green had a bad night by his standards – his best was a deuce in the fifth loss to Keith Dingwall. The highlight of the night was Colin & Krys in the doubles – 2-1 down they fought hard and remarkably produced a 14-12 in the fifth win (according to Krys, all as a result of his excellent steady play). A 9-1 defeat for Team 1.
 
With Teams 3 and 4 having free weeks, the final match of the week saw Team 5 travel to take on Murrayfield 10. The reverse fixture at Ladywood in September had seen Murrayfield secure an 8-2 win. Away from home and with a different trio, the Penicuik side were always going to struggle. Chamika Diyunugaige, Ian Millar and Sian McDonald were unlucky in a few of the matches – Chamika, in particular, will feel he could have won a couple - he lost his first match in 4 ends, his second was lost 12-10 in the fifth and his final singles was also lost in five ends. Sian picked up the only win of the night as the visitors fell to a 9-1 defeat.
 
So a pretty horrendous start to the second half of the season for the club – where do we find our player of the week from that lot?? There is really only one candidate – 2 singles wins for his own team and a doubles win in the Premier, well done to Krzysztof – don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t deserve it Krys!!
 
Our first controversy of 2023 – Murrayfield getting their own back on us after the Handicap Cup debacle of last season?? Rachel, Sonny and Gary were due to play Murrayfield (captained by Keith Dingwall) in an early round of the Handicap Cup – Murrayfield didn’t show up for the match (confusion re communication at their end) and the decision taken by Rachel and co was to claim the game rather than fit in a replay – what goes around comes around as they say – fast forward 8 months or so and a request (fairly late in the day) for a postponement is rejected by none other than Keith Dingwall. Now perhaps it will be claimed that the Handicap Cup situation did not feature in the decision to refuse to postpone but we think it must have been at least in the mind of the Murrayfield side! And hey, no hard feelings from us – if the roles had been reversed we would probably have done exactly the same. And in the end of the day the walkover taken by our handicap cup side last season (whether right or wrong to have done so) was always going to lead to a little bit of bad feeling. Of course we justified that decision not only on the basis of the failure of Murrayfield to turn up but at the back of our Club Secretary’s mind (he was at the match) was the Handicap Cup game a few seasons ago (a quarter-final we think) when Murrayfield claimed the victory at 4-4 with one match left to play after we ran out of time at our venue to complete the fixture!! As we've already said, what goes around comes around!!
 
Happy New Year everyone…..

Week 13 saw Team 3 catch up on an outstanding Division 2 fixture as they hosted Haddington 4 at a warm and cosy Ladywood (the Heating’s fixed!). This week’s team saw James Wighton join forces with Julian Taylor and Ian Hislop. Ian was first up for the home side and when he lost the opening match in straight sets Team Captain James looked a little worried. The scores were levelled as Julian won his first match and then an important five set win for James gave the hosts the advantage. Further wins then followed for Julian and Ian before James lost match 6 – 4-2 entering the doubles and a point was secured when James and Julian combined for a 3-0 victory. When the final three matches all went the way of the hosts (another tight five ender for James) the Penicuik trio had recorded a bit of a flattering 8-2 victory – the match seemed a lot closer than that. A great end to the first half of the season for Team 3 – 11 matches played, 9 wins, one draw and one defeat sees them top of the Division 2 table – but it’s tight - Murrayfield have games in hand and if those are won they’ll lead by a point. Edinburgh Uni are also in the hunt 2 points behind the Penicuik side – should be an interesting second half of the season.
   
The Club also hosted two 2nd round Handicap Cup matches. After their opening round win v Gullane back in October, Jim Jack and Aidan Craig were joined by Colin Green replacing Greig McDonell. Colin’s first match saw him start at 0-16 in a race to 24 and after the loss of the first end, he showed great concentration to win the next three. Aidan then gave a three point start to his opponent in match 2 and also recorded a 3-1 win. Jim then rounded off the first set of singles with an excellent 3-0 win over his opponent (Jim receiving a 2 point start). In a straight fight to 11, Aidan fell in four ends in his second match but another 4 end victory for Colin put the hosts on the verge of victory and that was confirmed when Jim (giving a one point start to his opponent) won in straight sets – an excellent 5-1 win for the Penicuik side.
 
The other match saw Penicuik take on Murrayfield at Ladywood. Maybe if we could have fielded a full side this would have been close, as it was only Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and Charlie Brindley were able to turn out for the hosts and this was always going to be an uphill battle. Of the 6 matches played the Penicuik pair won 2 good games but obviously starting at 3-0 down that was never going to be enough. 3 of the 6 matches went to five ends but ultimately the hosts were never going to be able to avoid a defeat as Murrayfield progressed with a 4-2 win on the night (7-2 in reality).

And so to our player of the week award for Week 13. Julian was undefeated in league play for Team 3 whilst Colin and Jim were undefeated in the Handicap Cup. It’s handicap Cup week so we can’t really give the award to someone who played a league match – sorry Julian. Colin was giving mammoth starts to his two opponents - -13 v +3 on both occasions – 16 of a start to 24 and is due great credit for winning both matches in four ends. Jim, on the other hand got a 2 point start in one of his matches and gave a 1 point advantage away in the other. Jim’s tactics of having an awful start to his team’s League campaign was brilliant though – his rating has fallen but means that his handicap is a great one! For that and two straightforward wins to take the pressure of his teammates, this week’s award goes to Jim – well done!
 
Controversies this week?? Don’t be silly – it’s Christmas at the weekend. We wish all our table tennis friends all the best for the festive period.

​Week 12 saw all five of our teams in action and the week started with Team 2’s trip to West Lothian on Monday 5th December. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Abby Wighton made the trip to Bathgate. It was a quick night for the Penicuik trio – 35 ends played and only 5 won – Abby came closest to a win losing out 3-2 in match 6 but that was as good as it got as Team 2 fell to a 10-0 defeat
 
The next night saw Team 5 in action as they visited Corstorphine in Division 4. Patrick Shanks, Aidan Craig and Roscoe Cairney made the trip to Sighthill for this match and after the first set of games they trailed 2-1. A five end win for Aidan in Match 4 levelled the scores but that was followed by a loss in Match 5. The night turned on Matches 6 and 7 which both went the distance – Patrick lost out 11-9 in the fifth end before he joined Aidan in the doubles and that too was lost in a close fifth end decider. With only Patrick able to pick up a win in the final three singles, Team 5 fell to a 7-3 defeat – closer than the result sounds.
 
Team 4 were also in action on Tuesday with a trip to Heriot Watt in Division 3. This was a must win match for Team 4 – bottom of the table but signs of improvement in recent weeks and they were taking on the team just above them in the Division – a win by a decent margin would see them leapfrog Heriot Watt on game difference. Robert Porteous and Rachel Petrie were joined by new boy, Richard Millar, making his debut for the Club. This was a terrific match for Team 4 – the first five matches all went their way for the loss of only one end before Rachel narrowly lost out 15-13 in the fifth in Match 6. A five end win in the doubles secured the first victory of the season for Team 4 and two further wins gave the visitors an 8-2 win.
 
Team 4 weren’t finished there though as they played their second match of Week 12 on Thursday night at Ladywood against Fife 2. Jim Jack came in to replace Richard Millar and two crucial five end wins in the first three matches gave the hosts the advantage – Bob, somehow came back from the dead in his five-ender to win 12-10 whilst Jim won the fourth and fifth ends 11-9, 11-8 for a great comeback win. Two of the next three matches were won by Fife and so going into the doubles, the match was all square at 3-3. It was looking good for Bob & Rachel as they led 2-0 but when the next two ends were won by the Fife duo this crucial match was on a knife’s edge. Bob & Rachel retained their composure and the hosts led 4-3. Rachel then secured a point by winning match 8. Fife won the next and it was left to Bob to round off an excellent week for Team 4 as he won match 10 for a 6-4 victory. 4 points in the space of three days has seen the team move out of the relegation zone for the time being – long may it continue.
 
Thursday was a busy night at Ladywood with Team 1 and Team 3 also in action. Team 1 were again short of a player as Colin Green & Greig McDonell hosted Fife 1 in the Premier Division. 3-0 down, both players lost out to Peter Aird but they battled to wins in their other matches and with only the doubles left to play they trailed 5-4. Colin & Greig took on Peter and Jim Wilson. At 2-1 up the home pair looked like they might have been able to secure a point but it wasn’t to be as Peter’s dodgy rubber came to the fore in the deciding end as they secured an 11-7 fifth end victory. A 6-4 loss for the home pairing left them very frustrated.
 
Team 3 meanwhile hosted Murrayfield 8 in Division 2. After dropping Julian Taylor last week, Team Captain James dropped himself this week as Julian was joined by Ian Hislop and Hannah McDonell. This match could have ended up being a difficult one for the hosts after Murrayfield’s third player turned up some 45 minutes late and the match was played out of order. In the end, it was Julian who played the best TT on the night, winning his three singles in Team 3’s 7-3 victory. He also combined with Hannah for a good win in the doubles.
   
And so to our player of the week award for Week 12. Three players were undefeated in Week 12 – Julian from Team 3 and Bob and Richard from Team 4. It was Richard’s first match for the Club having just joined so too early for him to win it – sorry Richard! Julian must be in with a chance – he won his 3 singles for the loss of only one end and also won in the doubles – he was also pleading his case at our Xmas night out on Saturday pointing out that he had to be in the running this week. Well he was but what about the terrific week for Bob – 6 singles wins out of 6 and also two doubles victories, both in five ends, one with Rachel and one with Richard – now that’s impressive – but hold on, there’s a late entry for the award this week. We don’t always have to look at the ELTTL for this award – this weekend saw the Edinburgh Schools Championships take place – not only did this youngster reach the semi-finals of the family doubles, with a win against the strong Toner father and son duo, he won the Under 11 title with seven wins from seven matches played – how impressive is that – although his dad is trying to claim the credit for it, we think it’s the superb coaching at the Club – well done to Colin Green’s son, Fletcher! Equal now with his dad for the number of weekly awards won!

As for controversies this week, we don't have to look much further than Thursday night at Ladywood. We had a couple of dodgy moments from Team 3’s match v Murrayfield. First off, Hannah was made to feel great by her own Teammate before the match even started – with Team Captain James not there at the beginning of the night, Ian Hislop was tasked with filling in the match card – that will be the last time he does it – he managed his own name and Julian’s but had to look at the young girl who he’s played with since October and ask her name! Oh dear – fair enough though, Ian is in his 90’s and he’s not known Hannah that long – and what’s your surname again he asks! Oh dear – he’s only known dad Greig for about 35 years!!
 
On the table, Murrayfield’s third player showed up at about 7.30pm, some 45 minutes late – he then proceeded to wander away for another five minutes or so before re-entering the Hall and hanging about aimlessly. Our own shortcomings meant that Team 3 played the match out of order to make up for the missing third player – After 4 ends against Ian Hislop, Murrayfield’s second player went on immediately thereafter against a very cold Hannah – Hannah should have pretended not to hear Ian as he told her to play out of order – it completely messed up the flow of the night and just led to one problem after another. The old rule used to be that if you turned up more than 30 minutes late you were too late and your games could be claimed – that rule seems to have been mothballed in favour of the rule that if you’re late and the match can’t get finished then the late team have to concede any unplayed fixtures – we prefer the old rule – or at least the courtesy of a call to give advance notice of a late arrival.
 
During the match, the Murrayfield umpire gave a warning to one of our players for foot stamping whilst pushing! What? Team Captain James had arrived by this point and had an argument with the Murrayfield player that no such rule existed and there was nothing wrong with what was happening. He didn't accept that. The same umpire was then playing in the doubles and complained about Julian’s service technique! Pot and Kettle came to mind for Team 3 – of course if the umpire had been a bit stronger he would have told the players that it was up to him to decide on service errors not the players – who was umpiring – ah 92 year old Ian – we don’t think he heard any of the commotion!
 
Our own problems continued on Thursday night with our premises – funny now but not at the time as various players in the hall had to keep their tracksuits on whilst playing – and for some they were tempted to keep their woolly hats, jackets and gloves on whilst playing – we have never previously looked around the hall to see all the spectators dressed in full winter apparel! Good news though – the heating was fixed by Saturday – just in time for Xmas!
 
Next week sees an outstanding league fixture for Team 3 as well as two Handicap Cup 2nd Round matches – should be fun!