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Week 17 Report

30/1/2017

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Week 17 of the Edinburgh & Lothians Table Tennis League was a busy one for Penicuik with six of the Club’s 7 teams in action.

In the Premier Division Penicuik 1 faced an away fixture against Edinburgh International 2. Greig McDonell, Colin Green and Stuart Gow recorded their 3rd consecutive win of 2017 with an excellent 8-2 victory as Stuart won 3 whilst Greig and Colin both won 2. Greig and Colin also combined for a win in the doubles.

In Division 1 Penicuik 2 of Iain Johnstone, Clive Liddiard and Brian Bailey travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 3. On a disappointing night for the Penicuik trio, Iain made the only contributions for the visitors as he was undefeated in singles play in the resultant 7-3 defeat.  

James Wighton, Gary Mcdougal and Abby Wighton went into their Week 17 match against Edinburgh Sports Club in confident mood having defeated their opponents in the first half of the season by a 7-3 scoreline. When all three players won their opening matches at Ladywood it looked like being a  comfortable night for the home side. Defeats in Matches 4 and 5 for James and Abby, however, brought the Edinburgh based side back into the match. Penicuik then pulled away again with victories in Matches 6 and 7 giving them an unassailable 5-2 lead but the match was far from over as first James then Gary lost their final singles games in fifth end deciders. It was left to Abby to eventually get the home side over the winning line with victory in the last match of the night to secure a 6-4 win. Team 3 remain undefeated and continue to put pressure on Haddington at the top of the Division 2 table.

Having had a super start to their Division 2 campaign, Penicuik 4 have struggled to match Team 3’s success, primarily as a result of an inability to field a full side consistently. They recorded a much needed win against West Lothian 6 at Bathgate in Week 17 as Chris Markey won all 3 of his singles matches and combined with Krzysztof Laszkiewicz for a win in the doubles whilst Krzysztof won 2 singles and Tony Brentnall won 1  in their 7-3 victory. 

After a terrific victory in Week 16 for Penicuik 5, John Bald, Phil Daly and Vikas Singla knew they were in for a tough match at Ladywood as they took on second placed Murrayfield 7 in Division 3. The Edinburgh based side started the night a massive 17 points ahead of the Penicuik trio and other than Vikas the gulf between the two sides showed on the night as the visitors ran out 7-3 winners. Vikas continued his good form since joining the Club winning two singles and contributing with John for a victory in the doubles. 

Following a break in Week 16, Penicuik 6 of Sean Lennon, Stuart Bennett and Craig Johnson were looking to record their first win of 2017 as they travelled to take on Murrayfield 8 in Division 4. The match swung one way and then the other and going into the crucial doubles fixture the scores were tied at 3-3. Sean and Craig played well together to give the visitors a 4-3 advantage. In the final round of singles matches, Stuart and Sean both won to secure a narrow 6-4 victory for the Midlothian side. Sean and Craig both won 2 and Stuart won 1 on the night. 

Player of the week award for Week 17?? Three players were undefeated in singles play this week. Stuart was again undefeated for Team 1; Iain won his 3 singles for Team 2 whilst Chris had a terrific night for Team 4. The Christmas break seems to have had a positive impact on one of our players - undefeated since the New Year - and for the fact that he had the confidence to wear what can only be described as a ghastly luminous yellow T-Shirt whilst starring on Sky Sports at the weekend, this week’s award goes to Stuart - not many people could have pulled that look off…………….

And so to our controversy of the week section. In Team 1’s match against Edinburgh International last week 2 of our players arrived slightly after the 6.30 start time to find only one player from the home side in attendance. The two remaining EI players then turned up about 15 and 20 minutes after the official start time and still no sign of our 3rd player who turned up some 40 minutes late. Now thankfully the match managed to finish before “closing time” but what if it hadn’t??

Our former League President, Mr Ken Ben, seemed to suggest in the run up to 7pm that if a player hadn’t arrived within 30 minutes of the start time his games are forfeited - not the case of course - it appears that rule was replaced with the somewhat bizarre rule (in our view) that if a player from a team is more than 30 minutes late and the match is curtailed as a result from finishing the team who that player belongs to forfeits any unplayed matches. Is that really fair in a situation where the rule also says that teams should be in attendance prior to the start time and ready to play by the aforementioned start time. In a situation such as last week no one was ready to play by 6.30pm. Who’s fault would it actually have been had the matches not been capable of being finished. The fact is that having arrived 40 minutes late, the player in question was still in time to play his first match (match 3 of the night) as match 1 wasn’t even finished by that time!! Whilst we’re sure an amicable resolution would have been reached if necessary, the rule does leave a huge amount of scope for argument - maybe something to revisit for next season. 

And finally, away from the League it would be remiss of us not to comment on an excellent Tournament at the weekend run by our friends from Haddington Table Tennis Club. The highlight of the day, according to Colin, was not his win in the Band 1 Singles nor his win in the Open Singles - It was the enjoyment he took from being able to relive the final two points of his match against Greig in the Band 1 Final - a certain Murrayfield player seems to have videoed the horrendous and un-returnable net which Colin got at deuce in the fifth, caught Greig’s reaction to it and posted it for posterity on the ELTTTL Twitter page - being the sportsmanlike fellow that he is Colin tells us he’s only watched it about a dozen times and remarkably each time he finds it funnier - typical Aussie!!! Well done to all our members who took part and our thanks to the organisers for an excellently run event.

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Week 16 Report

22/1/2017

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Week 16 of the Edinburgh & Lothians Table Tennis League saw four of Penicuik’s seven teams in action.

In the Premier Division Penicuik 1 faced a trip to Bathgate as they took on West Lothian 2. At full strength for only the 5th time this season, Greig McDonell, Colin Green and Stuart Gow were looking to follow up their win from the previous week  and consolidate their good start to 2017. Four matches on the night went to deciding 5th ends with the visitors crucially winning 3 of those. In the end the 9-1 victory for Penicuik is harsh on a tough West Lothian side. Greig and Stuart both won 3 whilst Colin won 2. Greig and Colin combined for a win in the doubles.

In Division 1 Penicuik 2 faced a difficult home match against Murrayfield 4 who are challenging for promotion to the Premier League. With 4 matches of the night complete, Iain Johnstone, Clive Liddiard and Brian Bailey looked as if they might have been in for a long night with the match score evenly poised at 2-2. From there however, Murrayfield took control as they won the next 6 matches to record an 8-2 victory. Iain and Clive both won a singles match. 

Penicuik 3 started Week 16 comfortable in 2nd place in Division 2 and had the opportunity to extend their advantage over their opponents North Merchiston 3 who sat in equal 3rd. James Wighton, Gary Mcdougal and Abby Wighton have enjoyed an excellent season so far and their form continued as they ran out comfortable 7-3 winners. James was player of the night winning all 3 of his singles matches whilst Gary and Abby both won 2. The win maintains Team 3’s undefeated record as they continue to keep the pressure up on Haddington 1 who top the Division by 2 points. 

Although they suffered a narrow 6-4 defeat in Week 15, there were positives to take from that defeat for Penicuik 5 as they travelled to North Merchiston 5 in Division 3. The visitors knew that they had to start turning decent performances into points after a number of narrow 6-4 defeats left them in the relegation zone going into 2017. After 7 matches the visitors held a narrow 4-3 advantage going into the last round of singles. Young Louis Myatt then held his nerve to win a tight 5th end decider to guarantee a point for the Midlothian side. Back came North Merchiston, however to win match 9 leaving Vikas Singla needing a win in the final match of the night to secure victory - he comfortably disposed of his opposite number in 3 straight ends to record only the 2nd win of the season for the visitors. Vikas was undefeated whilst Louis won 2 and John Bald won 1.

And so to our player of the week award for Week 16. It’s a difficult one this week - Greig and Stuart both undefeated for Team 1; James had a terrific night for Team 3 and Vikas and Louis had a terrific night for Team 5. Although Louis lost a match, his second win of the night guaranteed a point for Team 5 under the greatest of pressures and he is due great credit for that but in the end, for the importance of his 3 wins to the team’s overall score, (and despite losing in the doubles - surely it was his partner’s fault) the award this week goes to one of our newest Club members - Well done Vikas. 

Away from the League, there were a couple of successes for the Club at the Edinburgh Schools Championships. Having the Under 10 girls event cancelled because she was the only girl to enter was disappointing for Hannah McDonell - never mind though she played instead against the boys who were royally miffed when a “little girl” won the Under 10’s title!! Takes off her mother seemingly! At the other end of the age scale, Louis McLeod performed well to finish runner-up in the Under 16 Event whilst Louis Myatt was unlucky in the Under 14s not to reach the final. A good day was had by all with 6 Penicuik youngsters taking part in total. 

And finally our controversy of the week section. Although we’re sure our avid readers (all five of them) will be disappointed, it was a quiet week this week in the ELTTL - no fall outs, no umpiring controversies, no internal bust ups - well other than the hotly contested semi-final of the Fun Family Doubles at the Schools Championships - we think the word “fun” may have been overlooked in that match……. Anyway, even if the week had been particularly controversial we’re told our Press Officer is in far too good a mood to end this week’s report on a sour note - that good mood no doubt as a result of winning something this weekend - so what if it was only a box of chocolates for being runner-up in the aforementioned family doubles - it counts the same as a trophy doesn’t it???? The youngster that pulled him through to the final isn’t getting any - she won a proper trophy… Anyway the box of celebrations are currently proudly displayed alongside his certificate for winning the October 14th to 18th Center Parcs TT Tournament in 2014.

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Week 15 Report

15/1/2017

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The first round of action after the festive break saw all 7 of the Club's teams in action. 
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In the Premier Division Team 1 were without Stuart Gow as they took on an even more understrength West Lothian 1 at Ladywood. Greig McDonell and Colin Green both won 2 and young Lewis Baldock, playing up from Division 4, defeated the individual with the worst record in the league - that guy Mr Walkover! The final match of the night was the doubles and WL knew that a win in that would secure an unlikely point but it wasn't to be for the visitors as Greig and Colin triumphed to secure a 6-4 victory.  

Team 2 faced an away match at Corstorphine in Division 1 looking to reverse a 7-3 defeat from the first half of the season. With Brian Bailey having it in his head that he can't play on Corstorphine's hard floor (mind you his knees are 106 years old) Gary McDougal deputised from Division 2. He failed to contribute but was relieved to see Clive Liddiard and Iain Johnstone both go undefeated in singles play and combine for a good doubles win in the resultant 7-3 victory for Team 2.  

In Division 2, Team 3 of James Wighton, Gary McDougal and Abby Wighton also faced Corstorphine opposition. Warmed up perhaps from his outing for Team 2 the previous night Gary was on top form as he won all 3 of his singles matches. James and Abby both won 2 and the only blight on Gary's night was a loss in the doubles although he claims that was James' fault! A 7-3 win for Team 3 keeps the pressure on league leaders Haddington at the top of the Division.
  
Team 4 were at full strength for the first time since October as they faced Murrayfield 6 in a rearranged fixture. It was good to see Tony Brentnall back from his injury layoff as he won 1 whilst Chris Markey won 2 and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz won 3 in a much needed 7-3 victory.  

And so a terrific start to the New Year - 4 matches played and 4 victories - maybe we should just leave it there........ 

Team 5 welcomed a newcomer to the Team as Vikas Singla joined forces with John Bald and Louis Myatt in their home fixture against Fife 3 in Division 3. Team 5 have lost a number of matches by a 6-4 scoreline and going into the doubles fixture they found themselves 4-2 down. Vikas and John won the doubles and when Vikas recorded his 2nd singles win of the night in match 8 the scores were levelled at 4-4. History unfortunately repeated itself however as the last two matches were lost as the home side lost another by the narrowest of margins.  

In Division 4, Teams 6 and 7 both faced Haddington opposition. Team 6's away match was an extremely tight affair and 3 five set matches were to prove the turning point on the night. In match 1 Sean Lennon lost 11-9 in the deciding end to Haddington's number 1. The doubles saw Sean and Stuart Bennett lose the decider 16-14 whilst match 8 saw Stuart lose a 2-0 advantage to lose in five ends. A victory in any of those games would have secured a point for the visitors but as it was Team 6 will be bitterly disappointed to come away with a 6-4 defeat. The match saw George Wilson make his debut for the Club playing up from Team 7 and he won 1 along with Stuart whilst Sean won 2.  

The news was worse for Team 7 in their home fixture. 8 players registered and they played with 2 for the second time this season!! Rachel Petrie and Kathryn McKenzie were winless on the night as the home side suffered a 10-0 defeat. 
 
And so to our first player of the week award of 2017. 4 players undefeated in singles this week - Iain, Clive, Gary and Krys with all but Gary also being successful in doubles but for the importance of his win this week's award goes to Lewis Baldock! He had the guts to play up in the Premier Division without hesitation, made the points target set by El Presidente in each of his two matches played and played with a smile on his face - he also now has huge bragging rights over the other division 4 players as he can say he won a match in the Premier Division - if it's good enough for Brian to count wins against Mr Walkover.......... Well done Lewis. 
 
And finally our controversy of the week section. Quite a lot could be talked about this week but let's concentrate first on our own shortcomings - 8 players registered for Team 7 and the New Year starts with Kathryn and Rachel having to play a match without a third player - seriously??!! Whilst this seems to have been a genuine misunderstanding it does make us look pretty inept! The new year hasn't started any better than 2016 finished in terms of our ability to field full sides - Teams 1, 2, 6 and 7, for one reason or another, all fielded understrength sides last week!  

The main talking point of the week however relates to that thorny subject of postponements. Team 1 received a request for a postponement from our friends at West Lothian. The fact that West Lothian 1 have refused two requests for postponements from us in the last two seasons wasn't the determining factor in our decision to refuse their request at 48 hours notice but truthfully it probably played a part.  The major factor is that our Team 1 have played 11 matches this season and on only 4 occasions have they managed to field their full side - and indeed as indicated in our round-up last week they had to call on help from a Division 4 player. Whatever the problems were with our opponents, we have enough difficulties of our own fielding a full team to worry about trying to get three together for a rearranged match. Of course, it doesn't matter what reason is put forward to justify the refusal - those who are on the other side of such probably feel upset / angered / disappointed / bitter??? Probably a combination of all of those emotions. Such a refusal does nothing to foster good relations between the parties involved and of course what goes around comes around!
  
In the end of the day it's back to our point that we've made before - in an ideal world just do away with postponements altogether - we know the fixtures at the start of the season and we either play them or we don't! Too simplistic? Probably. But at least it doesn't then cause animosity between clubs and / or individuals - we're only now getting on better with Keith Dingwall from Murrayfield after he refused us a postponement in October 2015!!!! 

Finally at the Vets Event today in Bathgate we were told about the recent health issues affecting Barrie Hills from the West Lothian Club. PTTC send our thoughts and best wishes to Barrie and his family at this time.

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