And so with the League season over for the Club, the last piece of competitive action took place last Wednesday in the Handicap Cup. Jay Jayalath (+3), John Bald (+7) and Charlie Brindley (Scr) faced a strong Murrayfield side of Gordon Muir (-13), Max Well (-1) and Marcin Well (+4).

Charlie was first up against Max with a 1 point start in a race to 12. Charlie’s funny rubber nullified Max’s funny stuff as the hosts got off to a perfect start. Match 2 saw Jay take on Gordon – a 16-0 start in a race to 24 and when Jay won the first two ends 24-18, 24-20, it looked like he was going to stroll to victory – 24-19, 24-21 in the next two ends to Gordon, however, and the match was in the balance – the Handicaps proved to be pretty well judged as the decider went the distance – 24-22 for the victorious Gordon! A 3 point start in a race to 11 was not enough for John v Marcin and when Jay’s 4 point start against Max was wiped out, suddenly the hosts trailed 3-1. Charlie v Marcin was a must win for the hosts – Marcin had a 4 point advantage in a straight fight to 11 and although Charlie made it difficult he lost 11-9 and 12-10 in the first two ends – an 11-9 win in the third gave him some hope but he never got going in the fourth as he lost out in four ends – 4-1 down and on the brink of defeat for the home side. John v Gordon was match 6 and saw the biggest points difference on the night – John had a 20 point start in a race to 24. Such Handicaps exist to recognise the huge gulf between top Premier players and those who ply their trade in the lowest divisions. A combination of unreturnable serves, spin that John isn’t used to and a huge amount of consistency saw Gordon over the line in three straight sets. And with that Penicuik’s 2024/25 Handicap Cup exploits came to an end.

Player of the Week
Well – what can we say? Only 1 win to show between the three players who took to the table in competitive action this week, so we need to cast our net further afield. We ran an impromptu Easter Tournament at the Club last weekend with 12 seniors split into 2 groups of 6, the first three from each group progressing to the knockout stage. Whilst we don’t care who won it (well done to our Club President), the surprise of the day came from a player who is very new to the Club - his improvement on Saturday mornings has been pleasing to see and that was shown by some terrific play in the tournament. Wins against Michael and John were good but his win against Division 3’s Patrick was an amazing result. Add to that the fact that he only just lost out to Patrick’s teammate, Chamika and this player had a terrific morning – well done to Ugo, our Week 27 Player of the Week.

Junior Tournament
Hannah also ran a Junior Tournament on a handicapped basis – 8 players in two groups. Michael progressed from his group and won a tight semi-final. The other semi saw Josh take on Etienne in a cracking match. Josh somehow got over the line 10-12, 11-9, 16-14, 9-11, 13-11. What a game. He took confidence into the final against Michael, winning in four ends – well done to him.

Controversy of the Week
Let’s look to see whether our potential controversy from last week came to fruition? We indicated that if Haddington didn't survive in the Premier Division, they would be irritated by the decision of Ed Int 1’s team captain who dropped himself for his side's match against Murrayfield 3 resulting in a surprising 6-4 win for Murrayfield. Would Haddington have to face the man with an 85% average in Week 27 – you bet they did! He’s definitely off Haddington’s Xmas card list. And he won his three! In the end of the day though, whether he played or not wouldn’t have changed things – Haddington lost out in the final few weeks of the season to the two teams struggling at the bottom end of the table, Murrayfield 3 and University 1.  A disastrous 2nd half of the season saw our East Lothian friends only pick up 3 points out of a possible 20 and that, somewhat unbelievably, has resulted in them falling out of the division.

As for the Handicap Cup match – there’s no point saying anymore on the reason that was played so late in the season – the Committee decided it should be played if at all possible – we could have been very awkward and not been able to find a team to play on any of the dates on offer, but we’re better than that – we don’t want to win by default, just like if we had been in Murrayfield’s position, unable to field a team, we would have just taken it on the chin and conceded the match. We do wonder if the shoe had been on the other foot, whether the committee would have been so keen to get involved! But in the end the better team won and that’s what it’s all about. Good luck to them in the semi-final.

And so, for us, season 24/25 comes to a close – but not for our reports! We’ll be back with our season round-up and player of the year awards shortly!

And so the last regular week of the 2024/25 ELTTL Season has come and gone – how on earth did that happen? With Team 2 having finished their season in Week 25, our remaining four teams were in action to bring their season to a close.

Edinburgh International 3 v Team 4 – Division 3
Line-Up: Rachel Petrie, Chamika Diyunugalge and Patrick Shanks

Wednesday evening, 26th March, saw Team 4 travel to Gillespie’s High School for the final match of their Division 3 season. Chamika has ended the season brilliantly but lost out in Match 1 of the evening. Rachel then won a vital five ender and Patrick gave the visitors their first lead of the night by winning match 3. It got better for the Penicuik trio as Chamika and Patrick then won matches 4 and 5 to stretch the lead to 4-1. The hosts pulled one back and then the doubles also went their way and the match was in the balance again. Patrick secured a point before the match of the night saw Chamika take on Ken Benjamin in Match 9 – after four tight ends, the decider was a cagey affair but it was Chamika who held his nerve for an 11-8 win and with that both points were secured. A terrific 6-4 win to end the season for Team 4 who finished comfortably in a mid-table position.

Team 1 v West Lothian 1 – Premier Division
Line-Up: Colin Green, Peter Aird and Ryan Docherty

Team 1 have had a remarkable season – at the halfway point, there were real concerns about whether they would be dragged into a relegation battle. The second half of the season, however, has seen them storm up the table for an equal third place finish – a terrific achievement and the team have certainly been boosted by the addition of Ryan since just prior to Xmas. They finished with a match against second placed West Lothian 1 and the result looked like it could go either way as matches 5 and 6 were in play. Ryan managed to squeeze home in a terrific match 15-13 in the fifth whilst Colin looked in control 2-0 up against former teammate, David Simpson – David showed his battling qualities as he came back to win in five – 2-4 as opposed to 3-3 and when the doubles was lost the match was effectively over. Colin won the last match of the season in another excellent five ender but the hosts lost out 7-3.

Team 3 v West Lothian 3 – Division 2
Line-Up: Craig Linton, Kristian Skotzen and Charlie Brindley

Team 3 were looking to finish within a point of their opponents in 3rd place in the Division and when they stormed into a 4-1 lead it was looking good for the hosts – match 6 saw Charlie take on Andrew Morrison, top of the individual averages (well apart from Hannah - she keeps reminding us that she’s finished the season with 100%). Charlie looked in control at 2-0 up but Andrew eventually worked out the anti-spin and came back for a five end victory. When the visitors then won the doubles, the match was back in the balance. Craig secured a point with his second win of the night before Charlie took on Keith – at 2-0 down (5-11, 5-11), Charlie looked as if he was still thinking about his earlier loss – this time he turned the match on its head winning the next two ends comfortably but despite the momentum being with him, it was Keith who got over the line. When Kristian fell in Match 10, the spoils were shared, 5-5.

Team 5 v West Lothian 6 – Division 4
Line-Up: Jay Jayalath, Mat Dyluk and John Bald

Team 5 started the season with much trepidation, but comfortably secured safety a number of weeks ago. Jay has had an excellent first season with the Club. This proved to be another terrific night for him – three more singles wins take Jay to an impressive equal 4th place finish in the Division 4 averages. On the night the West Lothian players were a little too strong for Jay’s teammates as the hosts fell to a 7-3 loss.

Player of the Week
Only two players were undefeated in singles play this week – Jay for Team 5 and Patrick for Team 4. Ryan played some terrific stuff for two cracking wins for Team 1 and Chamika had a couple of important wins to contribute to the victory for Team 4. Neither Jay nor Patrick won the doubles they took part in, but because of the importance of his three wins to the overall victory for his team, this week’s winner is Patrick – well done to him.

Controversy of the Week
We can’t really end the regular season with a controversy can we? Let’s do a potential controversy instead!! There’s a real dogfight at the bottom of the Premier Division for survival. A few weeks ago it looked like a straight battle between Murrayfield 3 and Edinburgh University for the second relegation spot. But recent results have resulted in Haddington dropping like a stone into trouble. Edinburgh International’s role in the relegation battle could prove pivotal and controversial. If Haddington do go down, they’ll certainly not be sending any Xmas cards to Ed Int 1’s team captain who sits 4th in the Individual averages – he dropped himself for their match against Murrayfield 3 and the result was a surprising 6-4 win for Murrayfield side. We have got to assume that had he played, a win would have followed for his team. Those two points could be crucial – Haddington play Ed Int in Week 27 and if he turns up against them, you could understand why our East Lothian friends might be miffed! That said, Haddington may only have themselves to blame for their predicament. As we have previously reported, the rules say any team (other than University) are only allowed to reschedule two matches - in a season of 20 matches they have rescheduled 9 matches and have conceded 1. Maybe their stop / start season is catching up on them after all.

On a slightly more amusing note, a look back to the Vets Nationals last weekend – our Club President was in action in the quarter finals of the Over 50s against his old foe Keith Dingwall from Murrayfield. The umpire was none other than our old teammate and President of the Vets Association, David Simpson. Greig v Keith is normally not a great match to umpire! It normally goes the distance and he who opens up first with an attacking shot generally loses! Picture the scene then in the second end when the scores were tied at 8-8. A terrific seventh push in a row from Greig was returned by an eighth push in a row by Keith – and Keith thought his shot was sailing long so squealed out whilst the ball was in mid-air – it landed on the edge of the table, Greig returned the ball, Keith played the next shot and Greig just stopped playing. He looked at Umpire David who quizzically looked back at him. What? You can squeal out mid rally, putting your opponent off and that’s ok? Play a let says the umpire. Greig tries to claim the point having watched many a tennis match where “hindrance” has been called! Not sure that exists in table tennis but sounds like it should. Keith knows he can’t get involved and has to stay silent or he’ll lose his focus and concentration. Play a let repeats the umpire – the rest is history! Still apparently irritated after the match Greig points out that shouting out midpoint should have absolutely resulted in the point going his way and tells both Keith and David that once he relays the story to our Press Officer, they’ll both be starring in this report. So here we are! Of course the rule is very clear that if a player does something that impacts the opponent, then the point is awarded against them – IN TENNIS. In table tennis on the other hand…… Anyway we’ll leave it there. Who needs to know what the law is!

It’s been a positive season for the club – A divisional title for Team 2, terrific 3rd place finishes for Teams 1 and 3 and Teams 4 and 5 have surpassed their expectations with comfortable survivals in their respective divisions. And we’ve got a Quarter final in the Handicap Cup to come in Week 27 – nothing controversial about why that’s being played so late in the season!!!

Week 25 was a busy one for the Club with all five of our teams in action and for some this would be their last match of the season.

Edinburgh International 2 v Team 1 

With only a couple of matches left, the end is in sight and for Team 1, despite what has felt like a difficult season, they have somehow ended up at the top end of the Premier League table. They faced Edinburgh International 2 on Wednesday 19th March and with neither Greig nor Ryan available, Craig Linton played up from Division 2. Regulars Peter Aird and Colin Green were in  good form – two 3-1 wins in the first round of singles were followed by two 3-0 wins for them in the second round. 4-2 up and a win in the doubles secured a point. They both rounded off undefeated nights with wins in their last matches to give the visitors a 7-3 win. Thanks to Craig for helping out – although he didn’t win any matches, he was competitive in all of his games played. 

Edinburgh International 4 v Team 5 

In the other half of the hall at Gillespie’s High School, Team 5 faced Edinburgh International 4 in Division 4. Jay Jayalath, Roscoe Cairney and Mat Dyluk turned out for the visitors. When Mat lost match 1 to the experienced Alan Gracie, no one could have anticipated what was about to happen – a run of 9 consecutive wins for Team 5 gave them a fantastic 9-1 victory. A couple of notable moments from the match – Mat won 2 singles and combined for a win in the doubles with Jay (that’s his best performance of the season). Captain Roscoe has had problems in the past getting over the line against Alan. In season 22/23 he played him twice, losing 3-0 each time, in season 23/24, a similar story, two 3-0 losses. In the first half of this season things had improved but he lost 3-2 – this time he got his maiden win with an excellent 3-0 win and an undefeated night for Roscoe was so good that he’s dropped himself for the final match of the season, happy to end on that winning note!  
 
Murrayfield 8 v Team 3 

Team 3 lost their chance of promotion from Division 2 before hitting a ball in Week 25. A point picked up by West Lothian 3 ended their hopes of a 2nd place finish. They visited Murrayfield 8 on Thursday 20th March with third place in the division still a possibility. Bob Porteous, Craig Linton and Charlie Brindley took to the table. Table tennis is all about styles and for Bob, this just wasn’t his night – two tight 3-2 defeats and a 3-1 defeat in his last match put the visitors on the back foot. Wins in games 2, 3 and 5, however kept the scores tight. A fifth end loss for Craig in match 6 seemed to dent hopes further but a comfortable doubles win was then followed by the most pivotal game of the night – Charlie v Oleg went the distance – and when we say went the distance, we really mean it. 6 deuces in the fifth end before Charlie crept over the line for a crucial 17-15 deciding end win. Craig completed the job in match 10 to give the visitors a 6-4 victory and maintain their hopes of a third place finish.  

Team 2 v Murrayfield 7 

At Ladywood on Thursday 20th March, Teams 2 and 4 were in action. Team 2 went into their Week 25 fixture having already secured the Division 2 title. Nobody could catch the champions who were in a relaxed mood as they took on Murrayfield 7 in their last match of the season. Ian Hislop, James Wighton and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz knew this match meant nothing really, but for Murrayfield there was still a lot to play for – a win and they’d be safe from relegation. At 2-1 up the closest singles of the night took place as James fell to an 11-8 defeat in the fifth. With Ian having an off night the doubles was going to be crucial. 11-5, 11-1 and Krzysztof and James were cruising. Hold on 2-11, 13-15 and it was all square. An 11-8 win in the fifth went the way of the hosts to give them a 4-3 advantage. Team 2 couldn’t quite hold on to that advantage as only Krzysztof could get a win in the last round of singles matches and the fixture was drawn 5-5. 
 
Team 4 v West Lothian 4 

In the other half of the hall at Ladywood, Rachel Petrie, Chamika Diyunugalge and Phil Daly (playing up in the continued absence of Patrick Shanks) faced West Lothian 4 in Division 3. Chamika had another terrific night. Following his player of the week performance in Week 24 he provided the only bright spot on an otherwise difficult night for the hosts. Two wins from Chamika to make it five wins out of his last six games, but he couldn’t prevent Team 4 falling to an 8-2 defeat. 
 
Player of the Week 
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Undefeated nights belonged to Colin, Peter, Krzysztof, Charlie, Roscoe and Jay. We’ve mentioned the terrific wins secured by Roscoe, but that’s not quite enough to win him this week’s award. Jay has had some excellent results too. And what about Mat. 2 singles and a doubles win was a fantastic return – his best league night since he started playing competitively. Colin and Peter’s wins were against bottom of the table opposition so that counts against them. Krzysztof again proved his importance to Team 2's title win, but the match meant nothing really. The most vital and exciting win of the week came from Charlie, holding his nerve through numerous deuces to get him, and ultimately the team, over the line with that 17-15 deciding end win. Three singles wins and the doubles in a 6-4 victory – crucial.  Well done to him.  

Controversy of the Week  

At the Veterans Nationals at the end of Week 25, it was proven that age doesn’t necessarily lead to better behaviour! The day started brilliantly with our very own (OK we know Glasgow South will also claim him), Steve Collins, receiving the Mike McLaren Award, voted on by the members of the Vets Association. Good sportsmanship is one of the considerations taken into account when voting and no doubt this year, many players will have also taken into account Steve’s fighting spirit in his battle against cancer, his fundraising and his never give up attitude (our Week 14 Report includes some inspiring stuff from Steve).  

Now, fast forward 4 or so hours and Steve was involved in a match that can only be described as containing some of the least sporting behaviour we’ve seen all season. His opponent in the first end got three net dribblers in a row at 8-7 up to win – no sign of any apology. In the next end a hammered ball hits Steve square in the belly area. Again no sorry is uttered. Steve, a little irritated at this point, suggests to his opponent that he may have forgotten to say sorry. That doesn’t go down well and his opponent asks where in the rules does it say that you should say sorry. Oh dear, this isn’t going to end well! Steve points out that it’s not in the rules, it would just be good manners to apologise. Rather than simply saying sorry (whether meant or not), or just moving on, the opponent then questions the umpire as to why he was letting Steve “make a fuss”. Bizarre. The umpire tells the players to play on. Steve loses the second end as his opponent continues to mutter about the fuss he’s made! Riled up massively, and just like his attitude in dealing with his health issues, his battling qualities come to the fore as he storms back to win the match 3-2. The point of course is a fairly bland one – it is just common decency to apologise for nets, edges, hitting someone unintentionally with the ball etc etc. Of course it’s not in the rules and of course no one can be forced to say sorry but we would hope that one element of good sportsmanship, is to act decently in moments like that, whether you’re sorry or not! End of story, nothing to get too excited about, just a minor controversy.

If only it had ended there. After the match was over Steve’s opponent had to make it known that in fact it wasn’t Steve’s battling qualities that won him the match. He’s telling anyone prepared to listen how he was “cheated” out of the win. Steve hears him saying this and tells him that all he did was point out some decent etiquette that he’d expect from anyone. His opponent then tells Steve that he stopped trying after two ends and goes on to point out that Steve shouldn’t be playing table tennis as he’s clearly “not well”. The only reason Steve won was because he didn’t want to beat someone in “his condition” so he stopped trying! What an outrageous comment to make!  

Now clearly Steve has a good sense of humour and that’s been needed over this last year or so – not much to find funny about this incident though – apart from the fact, of course, that when regaling this story to others, he points out that he must be the first player in the history of the Association to win the vote for the Mike McLaren Award and within about 4 hours of doing so get involved in a massive “dispute” and be called a cheat! That is indeed an achievement to be proud of!! Can we have a re-vote?  

One week left of the regular season – it will be a calm and pleasant one we’re sure!  

After a quiet Week, it was all systems go in a busy week 24 for the Club. All five of our teams were in action starting with trips on Tuesday 11th March to Haddington for Teams 3 and 5.

Team 3 v Haddington 3 – Division 2
Line-up: Kristian Skotzen, Bob Porteous, and Charlie Brindley

Team 3 are still mathematically in the hunt for promotion but know that they need to win their remaining games and hope that the second placed team in the division have a nightmare finish to the season. When in the first round of singles matches, both Kristian and Charlie suffered 4 end defeats, they were in trouble. But when matches 4 and 5 went the way of the visitors, they took the lead 3-2. A loss for Bob in Match 6, however, sent the game into the doubles fixture all square. Kristian and Charlie combined for an important win to give the visitors the advantage. Wins for Kristian and Charlie in matches 8 and 9 secured the points for the Penicuik side and Bob made the score a little more convincing with a 12-10 in the fifth win in Match 10. A 7-3 win perhaps flattered the visitors a little.

Team 5 v Haddington 5 – Division 4
Line-up: Roscoe Cairney, Mat Dyluk & Jay Jayalath

Team 5 travelled East with some trepidation, having lost the reverse fixture 10-0 at Ladywood. It was a different story on this occasion. Wins for Jay and Roscoe in matches 2 and 3 gave the visitors a 2-1 lead after the first round of singles matches. Only one of the next three singles, however, was won by the visitors as the scores were level going into the doubles. Jay and Mat took to the table (perhaps a little surprising) and when they fell to a 4-end defeat, the Penicuik side knew they were in trouble. Roscoe lost match 8 but a terrific win for Mat kept the match alive. Could Jay pull off a win to secure a draw in the final match of the night? Not quite as he fell to a four-end defeat and with that Haddington took the spoils with a 6-4 victory.

Team 1 v Haddington 1 – Premier Division – 13th March
Line-up: Colin Green, Peter Aird, and Ryan Docherty

Ryan got the visitors off to a great start with a 3-1 victory over Pete Lugton. When Colin did likewise in match 2 against Carsten Giebeler and that was followed by a win for Peter v Matt Monro, it was a perfect start for the visitors. Ryan couldn’t quite get over the line in his second match losing 11-9 in the fifth to Carsten and when Haddington’s Peter defeated Penicuik’s Peter in Match 5, the comeback was on for the hosts. Any hopes of that comeback were wiped out, however, as the Midlothian side took the next five matches for an excellent 8-2 win.

Ladywood 13th March - Penicuik 2 v Murrayfield 8 – Division 2

Team 2 welcomed back Ian Hislop from one of his many trips abroad and he was straight into the team to join James Wighton and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz at Ladywood for the visit of Murrayfield 8. Match 1 saw Ian take on Lyn Somerville and if ever there was an advert for the expedite system to come into play, this was it – no one could remember the rules though so on they went for about 50 minutes, only for Ian to lose 11-9 in the fifth! When James lost match 2, this looked like being a difficult night for the hosts. Four of the next five matches, however, went the way of the Penicuik side as they took a 4-3 lead with the last round of singles matches left to play. Match 8 proved pivotal – James v Phillipe Almichel went the distance to a fifth end, Phillipe recovering from 2-0 down – words of wisdom from Ian at the break before the final end seemed to work wonders for James – an 11-1 fifth end win saw a point secured and that became 2 points when Krzysztof won match 9. 3 wins for him, 1 each for James and Ian and a crucial doubles win saw the 6-4 specialists do it again!

Penicuik 4 v Murrayfield 9 – Division 3

Meanwhile, Rachel Petrie, Chamika Diyunugalge and Phil Daly (playing up for the absent Patrick Shanks) faced Murrayfield 9 in Division 3. Chamika had a fantastic night – two 3-1 wins and a 3-2 win were combined with a 3-1 win for him and Rachel in the doubles – 4 on the board for the hosts. Unfortunately, in a match that probably should have resulted in a win, the only other victory on the night came in match 9 for Rachel. A 5-5 draw for the understrength Penicuik side sent both teams home moderately happy.

Player of the Week
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It’s a tricky one this week. Krzysztof was undefeated in yet another exciting 6-4 victory for Team 2. Colin played some lovely stuff for Team 1 and Chamika secured 4 wins in a 5-5 draw for Team 4. Add to that solid performances from Kristian, Charlie, Bob, Peter, Jay and Ryan who all won 2 out of 3 and this really is a difficult decision.  In the end, this player’s contribution was vital to his team avoiding a defeat – 4 wins in a 5-5 draw deserves to be rewarded – well done to Chamika.

Controversy of the Week

We’ve got plenty to talk about this week! Let’s start with Team 2’s match at Ladywood. In the doubles, there were tense exchanges between Team Captain James and the umpire, his own teammate, Ian! One of the Murrayfield players, whilst serving, threw the ball up in the air, it went at a bad angle and he simply caught the ball again on its way down, presumably because he was unhappy with his throw-up. Point to Penicuik claims James. Why says the umpire – he didn’t try to strike the ball! So, what says James, you’re not umpiring a tennis match, this is table tennis. Oh dear!! It’s Ok though, the Murrayfield players must know the rule. James was staggered when all three players from the Edinburgh Club claimed not to know that what happened was a fault. Really? The League Secretary was one of the opponents – surely, he knows the rules? Apparently not! Dumfounded James was left raging and needed his partner to calm him down and tell him to carry on and forget about it! It’s a good job the doubles was fairly straightforward – imagine if it had been a deuce in the fifth loss!! Remarkably the same player did the same thing in the next end, this time apparently throwing the ball up before his partner was ready and then catching it! James just looked at umpire Ian who remained stony-faced! There are numerous different paragraphs of the rules we could look at – but lets just concentrate on this one:

"The ball shall be in play from the last moment at which it is stationary on the palm of the free hand before being intentionally projected upwards.".

Ball in play, a proper serve needs to be performed. Catching the ball is not a proper serve. Unless of course the service was interrupted, and a let was called – that wasn’t the case here – the server intentionally started his serve. Ah well, perhaps our League Head Umpire needs to role out his umpiring course to a few more people – including folk from our own Club!

In the other half of the hall on Thursday night, there was an interesting query raised by Rachel. In her first match of the night against her young opponent, she started brilliantly with an 11-4 first end win. At the end of that set, her opponent took himself out of the hall (to the toilet) and whilst he was gone, Rachel queried whether that was allowed?? Not a situation which we have come across before bizarrely – the rule which seems to apply is that "Players may not leave the playing area during a match without the permission of the umpire”. Clearly if a toilet break is needed then it’s needed, more so we would have thought for us old codgers who may have some bladder control issues! A drugs test was suggested when the youngster returned and comfortably won the next three ends!!

Away in Haddington on Tuesday night, Team 3 were involved in a very good spirited match with their East Lothian Opponents – the same could not be said for the match taking place beside Team 3 as Haddington 1 took on West Lothian 2. At one point, the noise coming from the match was so ridiculous that Kristian felt he should really go over and get involved. The youngsters of West Lothian can be exuberant, but on this occasion the complaint was about a couple of them shouting, screaming and their use of foul, vulgar language. Such behaviour is simply unacceptable and needs to be stamped out – it’s as clear as day on the back of our match cards that such conduct is a yellow card offence – no sign of any card being given. We spoke to the nicest man in table tennis, Pete Lugton, after the match and he commented that it was certainly not a pleasant match to play in. He felt that those in charge at WL need to take some control of the situation. One of the other players from Haddington who had to play against the extremely poor bahaviour found himself completely and utterly put off by the conduct, so much so, that he ended up not caring in the fifth end. He rightly pointed out that such conduct is not acceptable in school, at work, in the supermarket etc. so why is it in TT. A good question. Of course, what should happen is that the conduct is addressed on the night – we’re fairly sure that if yellow or red cards start to be given out, this type of conduct would stop. Difficult of course if it’s your own teammate that’s umpiring!!

The season is speeding towards its conclusion – only a couple of matches left for most of our teams – roll on Week 25.

Week 23 of the League was a relatively quiet one for the Club.

With Teams 2 and 5 having free weeks, only three of our teams were in action in Week 23. Team 4, however, took the opportunity to catch up on an outstanding postponed fixture as they played two matches, and in both of them they required to call up a player from the team below - not great organisational skills!


Frustration for Team 1 v North Merchiston
Line-up: Colin Green, Peter Aird, and Greig McDonell

Team 1 had a huge opportunity to leapfrog their opponents into third place in the Premier Division but were left ruing missed chances in their 6-4 defeat. The turning point of the night came early in Match 2 when Colin faced Quentin Renau. Having narrowly lost the first end to deuce, Colin took complete control, or so it seemed, with an 11-4 second end win and then led 9-3 in the third – he had won 20 of the previous 25 points played over those two ends. He was stunned as Quentin made a remarkable comeback, taking the third end 12-10 before comfortably winning the next 11-4. That shift in momentum dented Colin’s confidence, and he went on to lose in straight sets against Merchiston’s No. 1. Despite Peter’s strong showing with two wins and one each from Greig and Colin, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide. A frustrating result in a match that could have made a big impact on the league standings.

Team 3 Bounce Back in Style
Line-up: Craig Linton, Bob Porteous, and Charlie Brindley

After a tough loss to University 4 last week, Team 3 faced another tricky test against University 3 in Division 2. Whilst the result suggests that this was an easy win for the hosts, nothing could be further from the truth. The match turned on some really close games - five of the ten matches played went to deciding fifth ends and three of them came right down to the wire and were won deuce in the fifth. The pivotal moments of the night came in Matches 4 and 5. Craig delivered a clutch performance to edge out the University’s top player 12-10 in the fifth. Bob then followed up with an equally dramatic victory, also winning 12-10 in the decider. With momentum on their side, Team 3 secured an 8-2 victory. Craig was the player of the match for the hosts, going undefeated in singles, while Bob and Charlie each picked up two wins. Craig and Charlie also combined to take the doubles. Although promotion remains a mathematical possibility, it would require a significant slip-up from the side currently in second place above them for that to happen.

Tough Week for Team 4 in Double-Header
Fixtures: Haddington 4 v Penicuik 4 & West Lothian 4 v Penicuik 4 – Division 3
Line-up: Rachel Petrie, Patrick Shanks, Jay Jayalath & Chamika  Diyunugalge

With Chamika on holiday for the first fixture of the Week for Team 4 on Tuesday 4th March, Jay Jayalath stepped in and produced an excellent individual performance. He won two of his three singles, showcasing some superb play. Unfortunately, the only other win of the night came from Patrick, as Penicuik struggled against a solid Haddington side, falling to a 7-3 defeat.

A couple of nights later, Team 4 travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 4. With Rachel missing this time, Jay once again played up from Division 4 and continued his good form, picking up a singles win. Patrick matched that with a victory of his own, while Jay and Chamika combined to win the doubles.

This was another of those matches which was closer than the score suggests.  Three of the encounters went to a deciding fifth end, and unfortunately, all of them went the way of West Lothian. That proved to be the difference on the night, as Team 4 suffered their second 7-3 loss of the week. A frustrating week, but some strong performances to build on.

Player of the Week
Two players stood out this week. Jay Jayalath, playing up from Division 4, showed great composure in a tough week for Team 4. He stepped up brilliantly, winning three out of six singles matches across two fixtures and contributing to a doubles victory.

However, only one player remained undefeated in singles this week, and that was Craig Linton of Team 3. Craig not only won all three of his singles matches but also played a crucial role in the doubles win alongside Charlie. His battling spirit was on full display, with all three of his singles matches going the distance, and he won every single one. Well done, Craig!

Controversy of the Week – Serving Issues Strike Again!
Serving issues once again took centre stage in Week 23, with inconsistency in enforcement causing frustration across a couple of matches. In Team 4’s match against Haddington, League Head Umpire Roger Thomas was in action, so perhaps it was no surprise that there was a comment made about serving! Patrick was told he wasn’t throwing the ball up high enough on his serves, resulting in a warning. We recall a couple of seasons ago when the same umpire foul served Rachel in a match, no warning given that time and the argument of course is that a serve is either legal or it's not. If it’s not legal never mind warnings – just point to the opponent. A warning is supposedly given where the umpire might not be certain about the legality.

A similar issue arose in Team 3’s fixture against Edinburgh University, where Charlie was warned about his toss height. Having previously received a warning from the umpire, fast forward to a crucial point in the game, the umpire ruled a foul serve, awarding a point to his opponent without any further warning being given.

Both Patrick and Charlie accept that their serves aren’t perfect, but the real issue is the lack of consistency across the league. Our view? Absolutely, foul serves should be called out, but for fairness, this needs to be enforced consistently across the board. Never mind worrying about consistency across the league, let’s start by trying to get consistency throughout a single match. Charlie was quite right to point out that his own teammate, Bob, had various serves which were as “dodgy” as his serves – no points awarded against him, no warnings given. Charlie even brought into the equation our Club President who he had been watching playing in the other half of the hall – what do you mean his serves are dodgy? That’s a bit uncalled for Charlie! And it was the same story at Haddington. Patrick does have the occasional serve that’s not thrown up sufficiently but so does one of his teammates (we’re sworn to secrecy as to who that is, although it’s a regular teammate and Chamika wasn’t playing)!

We’ve said it many times before, the problem with officiating ourselves is that calling someone up for a “foul serve” is a bit like pulling out a yellow card against an opponent or indeed a teammate. The umpires need to be very strong and be confident in what they’re doing. Most of the time, we all just let things go because we don’t want to cause any animosity and ill-feeling in the matches. Some say that if the serve isn’t giving the player an advantage, then just leave it alone – but that of course is not what our Lead Umpire would tell us to do – advantage or not, if a serve is illegal, it should be called out.  Right now, that simply isn’t happening. 

Week 24 here we come!