Penicuik Table Tennis Club

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 14 Report

16/12/2018

Week 14 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League saw 6 of our 7 teams in action with all of them playing on Wednesday night.

Team 1’s last match before the festive break was made much simpler by their opponents, Corstorphine 2, showing up with only two players. Greig McDonell, David Melrose and Iain Johnstone didn’t lose an end as they racked up a straightforward 10-0 victory, a win which confirmed their spot at the top of the Division 1 table at the conclusion of the first half of the season.

Team 2 faced an important trip to Corstorphine 1 for a battle at the wrong end of the Division 1 table. Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Gary McDougal and Charlie Brindley know they are in a bit of a battle to get away from the relegation zone and with Fife securing a surprise win against North Merchiston 3 to lift them of the foot of the table, this match was even more important. It transpired that the reason Corstorphine 2 were understrength against Team 1 was that one of their normal trio was playing up in this match! This really was one of those matches which could have been anything from a 7-3 defeat to a 7-3 win. Corstorphine’s top man, Stan Stoodley squeezed through in 5 against Charlie in match 1 before Krzysztof levelled the scores and Gary managed a 12-10 in the fifth win in match 3. When Charlie then won match 4 in five ends the signs were positive for the visitors as they led 3-1. Stan reduced the deficit and match 6 was then to prove pivotal. Team 2’s Dave Hall v Krzysztof – renewing their battle from a couple of weeks ago. The match see-sawed one way then the other, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 9-11 – the final end went all the way as Dave proved the importance of missing his Team 2 match with an 11-9 victory in the fifth. 3-3 going into the doubles and a comfortable win for the home side gave them their first lead since match 1 on the night. The Midlothian side, however, bounced back with wins in 4 ends for Charlie and Gary. The difference on the night was Corstorphine’s number 1, Stan – he completed an undefeated night in Match 10 as the spoils were shared between the teams, a 5-5 draw not really the result either team wanted but, in the end, probably a better point for Penicuik than for the hosts. Five teams within two points of each other at the foot of the Division 1 table with Team 2 a point clear of the relegation zone as the Christmas break arrives. It’s going to be a tough and nervy 2ndhalf of the season for Team 2.

Team 3’s Division 2 campaign has been somewhat up and down in the first half of the season and their last three matches have been tight anxious affairs (two 5-5 draws and a 6-4 win). They hosted Murrayfield 7 at Ladywood in need of a boost before the festive break. James and Abby Wighton were joined by Ian Hislop and when James squeezed home 11-9 in the fifth in Match 1, it looked like this was going to be another tense, close encounter. Abby, however, had other ideas as she didn’t drop a set in singles play and by the end of Match 6 the tie was over, 6-0 to Penicuik. Abby and Ian combined for the doubles win and with 5 and 4 end victories for Ian and James respectively in Matches 9 and 10 the whitewash was complete. A terrific result for the hosts and their promotion chances are just about still alive, 4 points behind 2ndplace as the first half of the season ends.

Like Team 1, Team 5’s night was made all the more straightforward as their opponents, North Merchiston 6 could only muster a two-player team for their Division 4 match. John Bald, Craig Johnson and Stuart Bennett knew that a win would guarantee top spot in the division and the result was never in doubt as the hosts made quick work of their opponents with a 9-1 victory, young Kai Hely providing the solitary win for the visitors. So, a terrific return for Team 5 in their quest for promotion but they know they will probably have to play just as well, if not even better, in the 2ndhalf of the season in what is probably the tightest of all 5 divisions. 7thplace is only 4 points behind the second automatic promotion spot and with the top 6 or 7 teams all capable of beating each other, this looks like being a battle for promotion which could go all the way to the last week of the season.

And finally, in Week 14, Team 6 played their second consecutive Derby match as they visited Team 7. Team 7 were on a high after their win over WL 8 the previous week but with other commitments (or as some at the Club saw it, a desire to protect his average), Team 7’s top man, George Wilson sat this one out. Phil Daly, Kristian Skotzen and Hannah McDonell therefore hosted Team 6 of Louis McLeod, Rachel Petrie and Craig Linton. Louis has, without doubt, been Team 6’s rock in the first half of the season with 25 out of 30 wins going into this match. Team 7 without Captain George appeared to have, in their minds at least, conceded three to him before the match started! When Kristian lost the opening match in 3 uninspiring ends to Rachel, Team 7 knew they were in for a long night. Hannah v Louis perhaps gave the “home side” some hope – it looked plain sailing for Louis with an 11-7 win in the first end but back came Hannah with an 11-5 win in the second. 15-13 in the third to Louis would surely knock Hannah’s confidence – it seemed to make her more determined as she won the 4th11-4! 10-10 in the fifth and this match could go either way – Louis gave the biggest sigh of relief ever seen at Ladywood as he squeezed over the line 12-10. No panic yet for Team 7 though, their replacement Captain and 500+ rated player Phil would take care of new boy Craig to get Team 7 on the scoreboard. Eh, a 4-end loss for Phil and suddenly Team 7 were 3-0 down and in big trouble! Matches 4 and 5 on the night were to prove crucial – first Hannah won in five ends against Rachel before Kristian came back from 2-0 down to do the same against Craig. 3-2 and Team 7 were back in the hunt. But in the blink of an eye, Louis defeated Phil and the “Kristian and Hannah” doubles combination faltered against Louis and Craig – a 5-2 advantage for Team 6 who were surely now on course for their second consecutive victory. Phil found his first win of the night against Rachel in Match 8 and Hannah kept the match alive with a win against Craig in what was probably the most entertaining match of the night. It was therefore left to Louis to secure the victory against Kristian – but hold on an 11-5 victory in the second end for Kristian and suddenly there were thoughts of an amazing comeback – but when Louis then won the third 11-5 and took 8-2, 9-4 and 10-7 leads in the fourth this match was over – not a bit of it – with some great attacking play, Kristian came back for a 13-11 win in the fourth – he was down in the fifth as well but kept in it and when he brought the scores level at 9-9 in the deciding end the unthinkable became possible – two serves from Louis drifted slightly long and with the same positive attitude that he always shows, Kristian went for both of them with topspin forehand returns and won both points for an amazing comeback victory. A fair 5-5 result in the end? Team 6 didn’t think so – after the start they had they should have won this match at a canter.

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 14. Ian H, James and Abby were the only players to play three singles and win all three this week - all of Team 1 and John and Craig from Team 5 are disqualified because their undefeated nights were against two-player teams! There were some notable 2’s this week – Charlie and Gary’s wins were crucial in securing a draw for Team 2 whilst there has to be mention made of Kristian and Hannah winning two matches each and none more crucial (and astounding) than Kristian’s comeback from the dead to defeat Louis – but you can’t win it two weeks in a row Kristian, and in fairness your team would have won had you defeated Rachel! Our selection criteria is back this week to “who won most comfortably” and in style! Our winner this week played 12 ends of Table Tennis and won them all - Well done to Abby, Week 14’s player of the Week – and in part she wins due to her efforts to manipulate the selection process by passing on to Hannah at the end of the night how brilliantly she’d played and how she had strolled through the match without losing an end! Looks like Phil might have some competition for the “blow your own trumpet award”. Well done Abby.

Anything controversial this week?

Team 5 top the Division 4 table at Christmas but are being hounded by West Lothian’s Teams 7 and 8. Both of those teams have bizarrely inflicted defeats on the league leaders. After Team 5’s loss to WL8, an enquiry was made of the league regarding the “ineligible player rule”. Those who pay particular attention to these things (well done George – but maybe you should get a life) noticed that one of the players who played in that match had played up more than the permissible amount of times from Team 9 but had played one match for WL 4 – the rule is clear that in such a scenario the player becomes committed to the highest team he / she has played for. We should point out that this controversy is not about anything that WL have done – the player in question is clearly a Division 4 player and it would be ludicrous to have committed that player to playing in Division 2. The issue relates to the non-transparency of decisions made by the League to “excuse” the one play up which would ordinarily have resulted in the player being committed to the higher team. Surely in a situation where other Clubs are affected by such a ruling, they should be notified that such a ruling has been made? If that had happened, the issue would not have arisen in the manner it did. There may of course in some situations still be an argument to be had regarding the decision made but in this scenario it was a done deal and other Clubs are completely in the dark about it – that leaves WL, in this case, in a difficult situation – they are then faced with a potential challenge which could have significant effects on their Team when they have done nothing wrong in raising the matter with the league and obtaining their approval to continue in the manner they did! As our friend and former Chairman of WL, John M has repeatedly indicated to the League, transparency is key!

And finally, non-playing coaching roles comes under the microscope!

“Only a fellow member of a player’s team for that fixture or nominated non-playing captain / coach may offer playing advice to a player once a fixture has commenced.”

Team 6 were slightly aggrieved this week by the coaching in certain matches by El Presidente of two Team 7 players! They just about excused his coaching of Hannah – she is his daughter after all – but were heard to complain vociferously regarding the coaching of Kristian in two crucial matches against Craig and Louis! We think Team 6 are perhaps giving too much credit to his coaching ability!! We’re not sure what the rule is for “nominating” a non-playing captain / coach at the beginning of a match but certainly everyone at the Club is aware that for Team 6, Brian fulfils that role when he is available and El Presidente keeps a close eye on Team 7! The fact that Brian wasn’t there to provide some guidance to Team 6 probably highlighted the issue and perhaps the real issue has nothing to do with the League rules and was more about whether our Club President should be a neutral Switzerland type of observer rather than someone who was seen to be “taking sides”. Hmmm – an interesting one?? Our Club President’s response? He was unavailable for comment – seemingly he was too busy out for a pre-Xmas meal with Team 7 celebrating their comeback draw and plotting against Teams 5 and 6 for the second half of the season!

Week 15 sees the return of the Handicap Cup – that will proceed without any difficulty!! Good luck to our 4 teams still in the Competition – let’s see if at least one of them can still be involved post Xmas!!

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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 13 Report

9/12/2018

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Week 13 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League was Derby Week for the Club with Teams 1 and 2 in action in Division 1 and Teams 5 and 6 locking horns in Division 4.

With the way Team 1’s free weeks have fallen, the last time Greig McDonell, David Melrose and Iain Johnstone played together was about 6 weeks ago. It has been much much much longer though since there was a derby match between the Club’s top two teams (we think at least 15 years!) Team 2 called up James Wighton from Team 3 to join Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and Gary McDougal as they looked to spring a surprise on Team 1. After the first round of singles matches, a surprise result looked about as likely as there being nothing controversial to report this week as David, Iain and Greig all secured fairly straightforward victories. In the next round of singles there were further wins for Greig and Iain. David came up against an in-form Gary (who had taken an end of Iain in his first match) and David looked bewildered by Gary’s funny bat “attacking play” as he lost out in 4 ends. Greig decided he needed a closer look at Gary in the doubles so chose himself and David to face Krys and Gary and a three-end victory resulted. The match was over as a contest with a 6-1 advantage to Team 1. Fresh from viewing Gary up close, Greig then realised that it maybe wasn’t just David’s inability to play unorthodox players which cost him the win as Gary stormed into a 2-0 lead. The match was pulled back to 2-2 before Gary, who never stopped attacking, secured another terrific win, leaving Greig shell shocked. Wins for David and Iain rounded off an 8-2 victory for Team 1, a result which returned them to the top of the Division 1 table.

As the 1 v 2 Derby match was taking place, in the other half of the hall, Team 5 of John Bald, Craig Johnson and Stuart Bennett took on Team 6 of Louis McLeod, Rachel Petrie and Adam Woodhouse. Team 5 knew that a win was essential to get their momentum going again after a disappointing defeat to WL 8 the previous week which had resulted in them losing top spot in the Division 4 title race. Louis has been a stalwart for Team 6 in recent weeks and he started the night off with an 11-9 in the fifth victory against John. Three wins on the bounce followed for Team 5 to give them the advantage before Louis was victorious against Craig. Match 6 between Stuart and Rachel was always going to be pivotal. When Rachel took a 2-1 advantage it looked like the match score was going to be levelled at 3-3 but back came Stuart to level at 2-2. Rachel got off to a cracking start in the final end and changed sides at 5-2 up and looked in control against a dejected Stuart. From there, however, something changed as Rachel won only one more point as she went down to an 11-6 fifth end defeat and Team 5 secured a crucial 4-2 lead. The doubles was equally as close. Rachel and Louis pulled back from 2-1 down to force a fifth end but seemed to run out of steam in the 5th losing 11-7. A point secured for Team 5 and that was quickly turned into two points as Craig defeated Adam in Match 8. In the end Team 5 comfortably won 7-3, Louis providing the three wins for Team 6 – but this match really could have been very different if matches 6 and 7 had gone the other way.

Team 5's win briefly put them back to the top of the Division 4 table but they needed a favour from Team 7 to keep them there. They travelled to Bathgate trying to prevent WL 8 from returning to top spot. Having lost 7-3 to WL 9 the previous week, hopes were not too high for Team 7’s chances. Perhaps WL 8 took them too lightly as well – in what must be one of their best victories of the season, George Wilson, Phil Daly and Kristian Skotzen secured a fantastic 7-3 win to ensure that by Thursday morning Team 5 had retained their position at the top of the table. George’s form of late is worthy of special mention – he’s won 23 out of 27 matches whilst playing for Team 7 and has played up twice for Team 5 winning six out of six – that’s 29 out of 33 singles matches won this year compared to last season where he finished with 29 wins for the whole season – what a terrific improvement and if he can keep it going he’s surely in with a chance of being our “player of the Season” by April.

Staying in Division 4, Team 6 had the opportunity of putting their derby disappointment behind them as they faced Edinburgh International on Friday night. And it was a positive bounce back performance by Team 6 as they secured an 8-2 victory against a two-man side. Another undefeated night for Louis was added to by wins from both Rachel and Craig Linton.

Team 3 faced a trip to Edinburgh Sports Club in Division 2 and for the second match in a row they were involved in a tight tense affair. James Wighton was joined by daughter, Abby and Chris Markey and when Abby lost a tight five-ender in Match 1, the visitors knew they were in for a tough night. Wins for James and Chris gave the Midlothian trio a 2-1 advantage before ESC then recorded two wins out of the next three matches to bring the scores level at 3-3. A win for James and Chris in the doubles saw Team 3 once again hold the advantage only for Match 8 to go the way of the home side – 4-4 going into the last two singles and the match was in the balance again – a win for Abby secured a point in Match 9 but James couldn’t quite pull off the victory as the spoils were shared between the teams – probably a fair result in a match where neither team ever held more than a 1 game advantage.

After winning last week’s award for the most shambolic team, Team 4 had a point to prove as they took on ESC 4 at Ladywood in Division 3. Julian Taylor, Tony Brentnall and Sonny Taylor were in fine form as they raced out of the blocks and never looked back. In probably his best performance since returning to the Club, Tony was in terrific form in not dropping a set whilst Sonny bounced back from a couple of difficult matches as he too was undefeated. Going for a 10-0 whitewash victory, Team Captain Julian stumbled at the last hurdle as ESC won match 10 on the night. A terrific 9-1 victory for Team 4 returned them to third place in the Division 3 table.

And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 13. Iain, Tony, Sonny, Louis and George were all undefeated this week in singles play. We’ve already commented upon the terrific play from George this season and he was crucial in Team 7’s win against then League Leaders WL 8 – but he lost the doubles! (and you won the award in Week 4, George – don’t be greedy!) Special mention also goes this week to Louis who has won 25 out of 30 matches for Team 6 – without him, Team 6 would have taken some real batterings – but Louis, you also lost the doubles so you’re out of the running! Tony and Sonny were both undefeated for Team 4 – Tony never dropped a set – but hold on, ESC voted Sonny as Player of the Match – what did you do to antagonise your opponents Tony?? Sonny also won the doubles, but wait a minute, we think Tony played a better match than you Sonny so you’re both out of the running! That only leaves Iain – he never played in the doubles – it would be unfair to award it to him! This award is not just about being undefeated – two players stand out from the crowd – in the Division 1 Derby match not only did Gary play some fantastic TT in defeating two players rated much higher than him (allegedly 300 and 200 points behind Greig and David respectively), but he did so whilst completely maintaining his control whilst his opponents were losing theirs! He had the confidence to keep on attacking and the concentration to ignore some mind games from the other end of the table – a terrific night for Gary and you were so nearly our player of the Week! That award, however, goes to a player who hopefully has made a breakthrough in match play over the last few weeks. His two wins were not just hugely important to his own team’s victory, they were also crucial to keeping Team 5 at the top of the Division 4 table and who knows how important that might be at the end of the season! He also defeated a player rated more than 200 points higher than him and unlike previous matches, he managed to pull through two tight five-enders – Well done to Kristian, Week 13’s player of the Week.

And finally, our controversy of the week section.

Umpiring again came under the microscope at Penicuik on Wednesday. In Team 4’s match v ESC, there were issues raised regarding the service rule and what amounted to a legal service. This first reared its head during a game umpired by ESC involving Julian. Julian was pulled up as it was indicated that he wasn't serving from the flat of his palm and it looked like the ball was touching his fingers. After a slight re-adjustment he just carried on with the game, aware of the apparent issue. According to Julian this may have actually ended up putting off his opponent more than him. So, an Umpire who had clearly been reading up on the rules! Well maybe not – in a chat afterwards with said Umpire it was seemingly mentioned that the only reason Julian had been pulled up was because Chris from Team 3 had pulled up said Umpire the previous evening when he had been playing up in Division 2!! Team 4’s view was that this, and another incident when Sonny was pulled up by another ESC umpire, somewhat spoiled what was otherwise a well-tempered game.

But hey, if there are infringements to the service Rule, they should be pulled up. The problem, as we see it, is that there is so much inconsistency about the enforcement of this Rule that it causes ill-feeling when it is raised! If everyone took the same view on the Rule, then at least serving in general would probably improve. As it is, those who do bring it up are viewed as pedantic and are seen to be argumentative and confrontational. People get upset by being told that they are doing something illegal – they shouldn’t but it’s a natural reaction. Of course, the other thing we need to all accept is that the Umpire is always right! It’s his / her job to enforce the Rules. Challenging the Umpire, a la John McEnroe, doesn’t help and is not conducive to a happy atmosphere – just ask Krzysztof – he had to put up with our President’s various challenges to his Umpiring errors this week (sorry decisions not errors!) The Umpire is always right – unless it’s not in your favour!

Only one week of league play left before the first half of the season comes to an end – where has the time gone?? Roll on Week 14.

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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 12 Report

2/12/2018

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Week 12 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League was a very busy one for the Club with all of our seven teams in action.

Team 1 saw the return of Iain Johnstone after missing the last two matches and the rotation system was back in operation with Colin Green replacing Team Captain Greig McDonell who chose instead to watch some torrid stuff from Team 7 at Bathgate! David Melrose, fresh from some sunshine abroad, completed the team (Please can everyone else note that David, although on holiday during the season, had his week away during a free week – top marks to him!). Murrayfield 5 were the opposition at Roseburn and their position in the league table seems to be somewhat out of kilter with their abilities. Match 2 on the night was a classic between former Penicuik young gun Luke Hennessey and the returning Iain. At 2-0 down Iain was in trouble but he dug deep to win the final 3 ends for a great comeback win – Luke, who doesn’t hide his emotions very well, didn’t take that defeat too well. He put that behind him, however, when he continued his good form against David – 3 times in a row he’s now come out on top. The home side’s only other victory though was provided by Stella who defeated Iain as Team 1 continued their good form with an 8-2 victory.

Team 2’s Division 1 season has been a struggle so far. They faced two crucial matches in Week 12 against teams also in relegation trouble. On Wednesday night Gary McDougal, Charlie Brindley and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz faced Fife 2 at Ladywood. The night started brilliantly for the hosts with good 5 and 4 end wins for Charlie and Krzysztof, but Fife roared back with the next 3 matches before Gary restored parity with a match 6 win – 3-3 with the doubles next up. Gary and Krzysztof combined for a crucial win before Fife’s Lance Stockdale completed an undefeated night to level the scores again at 4-4. Gary secured a point and it was left to Charlie to play match 10 – with Team 2’s first win within touching distance Charlie lost a 1-0 advantage to go 2-1 down – with his teammates nerves shattered he levelled the contest before a fifth end marathon which went the distance – 13-11 in favour of Charlie to the relief of all home supporters.

The following night the same trio hosted bottom of the table Corstorphine 2. Could they pull off 4 points in a week. At 3-2 up it looked positive for the hosts but matches 6 and 7 were pivotal. Two fifth end losses for the hosts and they were suddenly 4-3 down and it got worse when Krzysztof lost match 8 in 3 straight sets. A defeat was suddenly on the cards but back came Gary and Charlie to win the final two matches to secure a 5-5 draw. A point gained? After an off night for Gary and Krzysztof it was a good point but against a previously pointless opposition, Team Captain Krzysztof felt this was a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, having started the week second bottom of the Division, 3 points out of 4 has moved the team up the table to 4th bottom, 2 points clear of the relegation zone.

Team 3’s scheduled fixture v West Lothian 4 in Division 2 was postponed at the request of WL. Looks like James Wighton is trying to wrestle back the nicest team captain award. They however played a match v Haddington, brought forward from the New Year. James was joined by Chris Markey and Abby Wighton as they travelled to East Lothian. Having defeated Haddington 10-0 at home only 3 weeks ago this was going to be a walk in the park for the visitors wasn’t it? It proved to be anything but! Chris showed probably his lack of match practice with only one win and Abby lost a bad one to a player playing up from Div 3. With a father and daughter loss in the doubles, suddenly the pressure was on James to make no mistakes. And he showed his true form with an undefeated night to secure a nervy 6-4 victory for Team 3.

This week’s award for the most shambolic team of the week goes to Team 4. They granted a postponement to Edinburgh International who couldn’t field a full team on the scheduled match night – and guess what – Team 4 then couldn’t field a full team. Millie played up from Division 4 but in a match, which went the distance, the home side really only have themselves to blame after a 6-4 defeat. Team Captain Julian almost salvaged a draw but lost the last match of the night 12-10 in the fifth. They’ll need an unbeaten second half of the season to try and secure a promotion spot.

In Division 4 there was a top of the table clash between Penicuik 5 and West Lothian 8. Having defeated WL9 the previous week, Stuart and Millie Bennett and Craig Johnson were hoping to give themselves some breathing space at the top of the Division. When the West Lothian trio raced into a 4-1 lead this match looked over. A crucial win for Stuart kept the visitors in it but a loss in the doubles ensured a point for the Bathgate side. Craig then inflicted only the second defeat of the season on Dave Stephen before Millie won match 9 to reduce the deficit to 5-4. The difference on the night, however, was Tommy Hamill who completed an undefeated night for him and with it a 6-4 victory for the hosts. Disappointment for Team 5 but they know that two wins to finish the first half will see them return to the top of the Division.

Team 6 also faced two matches in Week 12 and it was a week to forget for them. Wednesday night saw them host West Lothian 7, who themselves are still heavily involved in the promotion race. Louis McLeod won 2 and Craig Linton won 1 and they combined for a 5 set doubles win in a narrow 6-4 defeat. The following night, Rachel Petrie replaced Adam Woodhouse, but it made no difference as Haddington 5 secured a 6-4 win. Louis was again the player of the match for the visitors with 3 out of 3 singles wins, whilst Craig added one win. With Louis and Craig having had a good run in the doubles, it was perhaps surprising that Rachel replaced Craig to join Louis - it nearly paid off but, on this occasion, a 12-10 final end defeat resulted in another narrow loss.

And finally, in Week 12, Team 7 lined up with George Wilson, Phil Daly and Hannah McDonell as they visited West Lothian 9 looking for an unprecedented 4th victory on the bounce! The less said about this match the better. Team 1 captain Greig spent the night wishing he’d gone instead to Murrayfield – at least there seemed to have been some fireworks there. A somewhat lacklustre performance from the visitors saw them fall to a 7-3 defeat. The highlight of the night was 5 points in a row from 10-3 down by a completely disinterested and out of sorts Hannah due to the promise of a McFlurry on the way home if she could show some interest! Pity this was the last match of the night – a tactic though which may be used in future matches at an earlier stage!

And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 12. Colin and James were the only two players undefeated this week in singles play. But there were also notable performances this week from Louis and Charlie with 5 wins out of 6 singles played. Unfortunately for Louis those 5 wins were not enough to even win a point for Team 6. The undefeated night for James included a doubles loss so sorry James not this week! A late contender for the award is Phil – despite a shocking night for him at West Lothian, he gave our intrepid Reporter two boxes of chocolates – a bribe? If only he’d played better, he was a cert for the award this week!  For the importance of his 5 singles wins to his team – including two last match wins to secure a draw and a victory well done to Charlie!

And finally, our controversy of the week section.

With umpiring taking centre stage recently and Clubs being told to have their umpires take more control of matches, we think Corstorphine may have missed the relevant email. In their match against Team 2 this week, a rather toxic atmosphere was created by one of their trio who took exception to an edge being given to the home team player. It wasn’t an edge claimed the opponent. Charlie, who was playing the match, said it definitely was an edge – umpire and Mr Nice Guy, Krzysztof gave it as an edge to Charlie much to the annoyance and frustration of the visiting player. No doubt fuelled by that, the poor atmosphere rumbled on as the opposing player then started to question the fact that Charlie was supposedly using “speech play” to disrupt the match and no doubt his concentration. The alleged unfair actions apparently related to very occasional grunts from Charlie as he played certain shots – nothing untoward so far as we understand the rules.

It got worse seemingly as the same player then had a moan about young Sonny, who was playing a different match, because he was walking, outwith the playing area, supposedly in his vision. Words were seemingly exchanged, and the resulting atmosphere was entirely unnecessary.

Team Captain Krzysztof was greatly irritated by all of this – not because of a lack of respect towards him as an umpire, not because of the, on one view of it, ridiculous behaviour, but because he had been helpful and generous in agreeing to a postponement of this match because the opposing team at the scheduled date had all been unavailable due to a certain Football Derby Match in Edinburgh!! He had rearranged this match to a Thursday, much to the ire of other club members as it interfered with Club night, much to the annoyance of his own teammates who had to play two matches in two days - and the thanks he gets was this!

Lesson learned for Krzysztof – be more like that nasty James Wighton and just point-blank refuse postponements – we’ve got far too many nice people in our Club!!

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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 11 Report

26/11/2018

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Week 11 of the Edinburgh and Lothians League saw five of our seven teams in action.

In Division 1, Team 2 started the week off for the Club as they travelled to Bathgate to face West Lothian 3. Although not panicking yet, Team 2 need to start picking up points and their best chances of doing so should come against teams in the lower half of the table. This match was identified as one of those matches. Gary McDougal and Charlie Brindley were joined by Ian Hislop playing up from Team 3 in place of Team Captain, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, who appears to have been holidaying during the season again! When Ian squeezed home 11-9 in the fifth against young Jamie Arnott, the mood of Team 2 was very positive. The next two matches, however, were to prove crucial on the night. Charlie battled back from 2-0 down to force a fifth end against Stuart Gibson only to lose out in the decider. That was then followed by Gary losing a 2-1 advantage to lose out 11-9 in the 5th against Andy Wyles. Had the tide turned? Ian proved he can hold his own in this Division with a victory against Stuart to tie the scores at 2-2, but from there the home side only lost one more end in singles play and they added the doubles in 5 to run away with the victory by an 8-2 scoreline. Team 2's next two matches will surely prove pivotal to their season - both are against teams who also appear to also be in relegation trouble, Fife and Corstorphine 2.

Team 4 also faced a trip to Bathgate as they took on West Lothian 6 in Division 3. Their strongest team was out on this occasion with the return of Team Captain Julian Taylor to join Tony Brentnall and Sonny Taylor. This was a fairly straightforward night for Team 4 - only 4 ends were lost in the nine matches won by the visitors. Sonny was the only one to lose out on the night as Team 4 secured a good 9-1 victory.

In what appears to have been a week full of Penicuik v West Lothian matches, West Lothian 9 visited Ladywood on Wednesday night to face Division 4 table toppers, Team 5. This match had a family ring to it with father and daughter duo Stuart and Millie Bennett v father and son pairing of Tommy and Jamie Toner. They were joined by Craig Johnson for the home side and Neil Webb for the visitors. When young Jamie defeated Craig in Match 1, Team 5 knew they were in for a tough night. Millie levelled the scores before Neil then gave the visitors the advantage again. In the battle of the youngsters, Millie secured an excellent victory against Jamie and when Craig and Stuart both then won their encounters, the home side led 4-2 going into the doubles.  As is often the case, the doubles was crucial – Craig and Millie looked in control at 2-1 up but Jamie and Neil fought back to force a deciding fifth end. That game went all the way, a 12-10 victory for Millie and Craig. The pressure was then off a little but as Millie became embroiled in another tense five setter, dad Stuart lost to Jamie and it looked like the match was going to go the distance. Millie held her nerve, and with El Presidente watching on, she played the shot of the night at 9-9 in the fifth – an outrageous forehand winner against what looked like some decent backspin from her opponent – she secured the next point as well to give the home side a 6-3 advantage. Craig was then able to relax in his last match which he won comfortably to give a final score of Penicuik 7 West Lothian 3. An entertaining match which could quite easily have ended up as a draw.

Elsewhere in Division 4, Team 6 travelled to East Lothian as they took on Haddington 4. Craig Linton, Louis McLeod and Rachel Petrie were looking to improve on their 6-4 loss to Haddington 5 from the previous week. On that occasion, Louis had been the star player for the Midlothian side and he once again led the team well and won both of his opening matches. A win from Craig resulted in the match being tied at 3-3 going into the doubles. Unlike Team 5's doubles performance, Craig and Louis couldn’t quite get over the line as they lost out 11-9 in the fifth. A crucial win for the home side which seemed to relieve some of the pressure for them. The last 3 matches on the night followed the exact same pattern – Haddington won the first end only for the visiting trio to all win the second end – the third and fourth ends, however, all went the way of the home side as Team 6 suffered a 7-3 defeat.

And finally in Week 11, Team 7 lined up with George Wilson, Phil Daly and Hannah McDonell as they hosted Edinburgh International 5. Had it not been for two 6-4 defeats at the beginning of the season Team 7 would have been right in the mix for promotion from Division 4. They again showed their variety of playing skills on Wednesday night – George bamboozled his opponents with his good serves, controlled attacks and very steady pushing when required, Hannah showed her all out attack game (she doesn’t seem to know how to push – bizarre given who her father is!) and Phil played his normal eh…. how does Phil win games actually? He strolled through the night with the loss of only one set and with George undefeated on the night and Hannah winning two (a 12-10 in the fifth loss to Danny Ward spoiled a perfect night) the hosts won the singles matches by an 8-1 scoreline. George and Hannah also combined for a rare 3-0 win in the doubles to give Team 7 their 3rd win in a row, a win which lifts them to their best position in the League table since this Team was founded last season, 5th place. If Team 7 can come through their next two matches unscathed against West Lothian opposition that really will put the cat amongst the pigeons!

And so to our Player of the Week Award for Week 11. Julian and Tony were undefeated for Team 4 as was Millie for Team 5 and George and Phil for Team 7. Tony didn’t play in the doubles and for Team Captain Julian failing to pick him, they’re both out of the running! Millie played a blinder this week and without doubt wins the “shot of the week award” but she’s won this award twice already this season. So, it’s between George and Phil – both only dropped a single set this week, both to the same player. George also won the doubles – but hang on a minute, we’re told that George was pulled through that match by his partner who also in the past 7 days has had great success away from the Club – sorry Phil and George! 2 and a ½ wins in the league were surpassed by winning the Glasgow Open Minor Girls Title at Drumchapel last weekend and then securing a Scotland Cap with a runners-up finish in the Schools Competition at Bathgate on Saturday – there can really only be one winner – well done Hannah for a terrific couple of weeks.

And finally, our controversy of the week section.

Club Secretaries received an email last week from the League regarding recent disputes about services. We covered a “friendly” exchange between our Team 3 and NM 4 in last week’s report and we are glad to be able to confirm that this email is not directed at that match. What we are told by the league is that it is up to the umpire’s judgement as to whether or not a serve is legal. We are also told that everyone who plays in the League MUST know the service rule and that we seem to be guilty of too lax an interpretation of the rule.

So, this week all our teams have been briefed on the rule and told to be bold and strong in their decision making when looking out for a 16cm throw up of the ball, having first made sure that the ball has been resting freely on the open stationary palm of the server’s free hand! Oh, and also make sure to look out for those players who hide the ball whilst it’s in the air. Oh, and also make sure the ball is behind the server’s end line when it’s struck! Oh, and when you’re checking that the ball is thrown up at least 16cm remember to check that it is thrown up “near vertical” and that no one is trying to put spin on the ball. Oh, and once it’s struck, make sure the server’s free arm and hand are removed from the space between the ball and the net. Eh? What? Really? Good luck to us all in taking a less lax attitude towards that rule – and when some young kid is umpiring make sure you give them a hard time if they don’t pick up on any of the above – not during the match obviously but as a lesson to them after the match – and clearly do it in a nice way, unlike what seems to have happened in whatever match the League are talking about in their email when they mention the following:

“It is not acceptable for one player to accuse another of cheating; if there is any “fault” it’s the umpire’s for not exercising control and being decisive; Players should exercise restraint and good manners throughout. At the earliest opportunity after any dispute a cooling off period should be followed by a resolve not to pursue any form of retaliation or vendetta; It is most definitely not acceptable for a player to threaten (or worse) another player, and the umpire has the authority (and responsibility) to use yellow or red cards and to report the behaviour to the League Referee.”

Jings, this must have been a real humdinger of a match!! In our view, any player who has threatened another (or worse), whatever that means, should be reported to the League and should be suspended. Talk of retaliation and vendettas! If anyone wants to share with us what went on in this match feel free! We’re not sure, however, of the helpfulness of the League’s guidance on this matter:

“Umpires should take their responsibilities more seriously, not just in matters of legal service, but in exercising control of matches, including player behaviour”

That is obviously much easier said than done – not everyone is like our own Nastiest Team Captain, James Wighton – always looking for a fight, always argumentative, difficult to get along with etc. etc. etc. Most of us play TT for fun – whilst rules absolutely need to be enforced, in an amateur sport where a youngster might be umpiring a match between two grumpy OAPs can we really expect the umpires to control the players’ behaviour? Who knows what the answer is – meantime, we’ve borrowed a couple of Yellow and red cards from the local football team and 12-year-old Hannah has them packed with her bat for her match v West Lothian on Thursday!

Until all teams have to actually field a qualified umpire, these types of issues are always going to arise. We’re just thankful that we’ve got a group of level headed, fun loving and easy-going Club members, other than James obviously!

TT was never like this in the good old days, was it?? Hmmm – maybe it was…..

Roll on Week 12.

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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 10 Report

18/11/2018

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We’re into double figures in the Edinburgh and Lothians League – Week 10 already and it was our busiest week of the season so far!

Team 1 faced another top of the table Division 1 clash, fresh from their 9-1 victory over title contenders Murrayfield 4 in Week 9, Greig McDonell, Colin Green and David Melrose teamed up for the second consecutive week as they travelled to face Edinburgh International 2. After the first round of singles matches, the visitors held a 2-1 advantage with wins for Greig and Colin. The pattern was repeated after the second round of matches as Greig and Colin won again for a 4-2 advantage. The doubles was crucial and for the first time in a couple of years Greig and Colin took to the table to face Toby Waterhouse and Andrew Mannion – 4 tight sets later and Penicuik had secured at least a point as they took a 5-2 lead. Colin seems to have forgotten what it’s like to play with Greig in the doubles – at various points he was heard to complain about an apparent lack of movement from his partner – Greig on the other hand was heard to comment on how easier the match would be if Colin could keep the ball on the table! Good job they won in four! Cruising at 5-2, Greig and Colin then played their last matches simultaneously – at 1-1 in Greig’s match with time running out David was summoned to get the final match of the night underway – all 3 matches on the go – Greig lost ends 3 and 4 to Toby and was finished in time to see Colin do exactly the same against Babu! Suddenly 5-4 and David, winless on the night, was 1-0 down to Andrew. Some reassuring words were needed at the change of ends – Did you win David asked Greig – eh no! Oh – did Colin win? Yes, came Greig’s response – we’ve won the match just relax and enjoy it! And enjoy it he did as he came back to win the final match of the night, blissfully ignorant that his win secured both points for the visitors and maintained their unbeaten record!

Meanwhile at Ladywood, Team 2 faced Haddington in their Division 1 encounter. Gary McDougal, Charlie Brindley and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz were seeking their first win of the season and after Krzysztof lost the opener in 5 tight ends, an out of sorts Charlie then lost match 2 before Gary got the side on the scoreboard with a “deuce in the 5th win” in match 3. As with Team 1, the pattern was repeated in the second round of singles, unfortunately for the home side that meant a 4-2 deficit going into the doubles. When Krzysztof and Gary lost out in that match, a point was the best which could be hoped for – unlike Edinburgh International v Team 1, however, this match was never in doubt as the visitors won all 3 final singles to run away to an 8-2 victory.

Week 10 was a busy one for Team 3 in Division 2. On Wednesday night they travelled to North Merchiston 4 and in a tight match there were a couple of crucial 5 set games which were pivotal. After a loss for Chris Markey in Match 1, Ian Hislop and Abby Wighton gave the visitors a 2-1 advantage. Chris then made it 3-1 before two mammoth matches which went the distance. Fresh from his win in Match 1 v Chris, Slawomir Bess looked like he was going to cause an upset v Abby as he took a 2-1 advantage. Abby was having none of it, however, as she roared back to win ends 4 and 5. Nick Thomas then looked to have worked out Ian’s difficult style as he came back from 2-0 down to win ends 3 and 4. Ian regained his composure, however, to sneak home in 5. Those two wins were to prove crucial and after a win in the doubles for Ian and Abby the match was over as a contest. Abby rounded off an unbeaten night for her with a win in Match 8 before two 5 set victories for the hosts resulted in a 7-3 victory for Team 3.

A couple of nights later and Team 3 travelled to face Edinburgh University. A Friday night and surprise surprise the youngest team member, 19-year-old Abby seemed to have other plans!! We blame her father for not putting his foot down! With Chris unavailable, Ian and James were joined by Louis McLeod from Division 4. Imagine their luck then when they turned up to find that University could only field a two-player team – a win was surely on the cards and when Ian won the first match of the night the visitors effectively held a 4-0 lead. Matches 4 & 5 on the scorecard were to determine the outcome. The Uni’s number 1, Amadeus Chen came back from 2-1 down v Ian to record a 5-set win and that was followed by James letting the momentum slip, he having recovered from 2-0 down to 2-2, as he also lost in 5 ends. Suddenly, a defeat was a possibility! Thank Goodness Ian and James secured a good win in the doubles – that assured them of a point and that was all they were getting as James & Louis both lost their last matches by a 3-1 scoreline. We suppose it could have been worse – a full team for the Uni would have potentially resulted in a loss – the point dropped, however, spoiled what had otherwise been a brilliant 14 days for Team 3. On the 2nd of November they sat with 4 points and were in a lowly position in the League table – by the 16th of November, 3 wins and a draw later, Team 3 have climbed to 3rd with 11 points – a terrific fortnight for them.

In Division 3, Team 4’s season has been a little inconsistent so far. They promised much at the beginning of the year but defeats to Murrayfield 9 and Haddington 3 and a draw in Week 9 v NM 5 seems to have put them out of the promotion battle. They faced Murrayfield 8 at Ladywood on Wednesday. Team Captain, Julian Taylor returned to the team to join Sonny Taylor and Gavin Hunter but not even his presence could prevent another narrow loss for the home side. After some really unlucky losses it was good to see Gavin get on the scoreboard as he defeated Haydn Jackson, playing up from Team 9, but arguably the visitors most talented player. That win was added to by wins for Sonny and Julian v Bob Sterling and a doubles victory before Julian faced Haydn in the last match of the night – a win for Julian would have secured a draw for the home side. As it was, Julian fell just short as he lost 11-8 in the fifth – an unlucky 6-4 defeat for the home side.

As Team 1 played Edinburgh International 2 on Wednesday night, they were joined by Team 5 who faced Ed Int 5. Father and daughter Bennett returned to action as they joined forces with John Bald. Team 5 enjoyed the same luck as Team 3 when they discovered that their hosts’ 3rd player had got mixed up about the match and they would therefore only face a two-player team. Unlike Team 3, however, Team 5 took advantage as they recorded a 7-3 victory. 3 wins for John, 2 for Millie and 1 for Stuart were added to by a doubles victory. With other results again falling into place for Team 5 they maintain their position at the top of the Division 4 table, although their next two matches see them take on WL 8 and 9, both of whom are battling it out for a promotion spot.

Team 6 had been buoyed by their draw in Fife in Week 9 and were looking to go one batter as they hosted Haddington 5 at Ladywood. Craig Linton and Louis McLeod were joined by Adam Woodhouse and they knew that a win would result in them pulling level with their opponents in the Division 4 table. Two crucial 3-2 wins for Louis against the young David Hayman and then the very old Martin Hayman kept Team 6 in with a shout. A defeat in the doubles however, meant that with two matches left, the scores were tied at 4-4. Craig and Adam were unable to pull off the win and instead, wins for David and Liam Govan in Match 10 secured a 6-4 victory for the visitors.

And finally in Week 10, Team 7 travelled on Thursday night to Royal High to take on Murrayfield 10 in Division 4. A different trio this week for Team 7, as after a couple of weeks of partying, in came Hannah McDonell in place of Phil Daly – she joined George Wilson and Kristian Skotzen as Team 7 looked for consecutive wins for the second time this season. In the first round of singles, when Hannah lost 11-8 in the fifth and Kristian lost out in 4 ends, it was left to Team Captain George to steady the ship with a straightforward 3 set victory. Hannah and George then won their second singles matches, but a defeat for Kristian meant the scores were tied at 3-3 going into the crucial doubles. Hannah and George combined well to win in 4 ends and the advantage lay with the visitors. As Kristian won Match 8, Hannah was involved in another long 5 set match but this time she came out on top to secure the victory. George made the score line even better as he finished off an undefeated night and Team 7 recorded a good 7-3 win.

And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 10. Only four players were undefeated in singles play this week - Abby, John, Louis and George. Louis lost the doubles and his team lost - sorry Louis., you're out the running. Remarkably the other three were also successful in the doubles. How do we split them? Despite another undefeated night, George was again unable to win the Player of the Match award! That’s what happens when you play with an ever smiling attacking 12-year-old! John’s undefeated night is slightly misleading – he only had two singles matches – so this week’s deserved winner is Abby for her important 3 ½ points in a 7-3 victory for Team 3 – well done Abby.

Anything controversial this week? Team 3’s match v NM 4 was seemingly quite tense from the start! Match 1 saw Chris Markey in action and after only a couple of points it seems Chris made certain complaints about his opponents serves – firstly this was apparently due to his opponent not having his hand flat – not sure if that was sorted but a couple of points later and it was suggested that the ball was not being thrown up the requisite height. NM Umpire ignored any calls for intervention. As tensions were running high it was then the turn of the NM player to complain about Chris’ serve – oh my goodness – this could get out of hand. According to Abby, the bickering went on every few points between the protagonists! Who would want to be an Umpire. In the end NM came out on top, but a rather frosty atmosphere was generated by the arguing which had taken place.

This is one of our all-time favourite issues in our Weekly reports – Umpiring! We’ve harped on about it for years – can you really expect an umpire to put his neck on the line in a situation such as this – if the Umpire was “qualified” then there really isn’t any argument to be had. When we last checked though, the number of qualified Umpires in the Edinburgh League can be counted on one hand (and we don’t think you need all your fingers)! Then there’s the issue of service in general. Last season we had a bit of a go at a certain Haddington umpire for calling a fault in a Division 4 match for an illegal serve – no warning, no guidance, no education as to the issue – but hey the rule is the rule. And probably that’s how it should be – but let’s face it, if we actually got a top umpire to look at our serves every week, we’re fairly sure the majority of us would be pulled up on something!

In the same match, one of the new league rules reared its head. No surprise that our Nastiest Team Captain, James was involved (wasn’t he meant to be our nicest captain?). James was there to support the team and to no doubt give daughter Abby a lift. He had taken his bat and at one point he went on to a free table to give Abby a hit. Hold on a minute said NM – you can’t have a knock up.

“Only a fellow member of a player’s team for that fixture or nominated non-playing captain/coach may offer playing advice to a player once a fixture has commenced. Any such advice must be limited to one minute between games. No player may practise between matches with any person not part of the team for a fixture, once it has commenced.”

Good on NM for reading up on the rules – but hold on – maybe we can appeal – is James not “part of the team for a fixture”. Where does it say he has to be a “playing part of the team”! Maybe that’s stretching the interpretation of the rule too far.

The good news is that as far as we understand it despite various tense moments during the match, it was generally played in good spirit and everyone shook everyone else’s hands and there were no hard feelings by the end. Seemingly the match finished with a group hug between the teams (maybe James made that last bit up!)

Roll on next week….

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ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 14 Report

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 13 Report

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 12 Report

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 11 Report

ELTTL 2018/19 - Week 10 Report

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