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ELTTL - Week 18 Report

30/1/2020

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Week 18 of the ELTTL saw some mixed results for the Club as all five of our teams took to the table. 
 
After a tough couple of weeks there was no respite for Team 1 of Colin Green, Carsten Giebeler and David Melrose as they travelled to take on League Leaders and Defending Champions Murrayfield 1. There were some terrific matches throughout the night, none more so than the second match of the night as both Carsten and Alicja produced some top quality TT. Fittingly, the match went to five ends and despite turning around at 5-2 up in the decider, Carsten fell to an 11-8 defeat. Match 3 could also have gone either way, David losing a mammoth first end to Gordon by 20 points to 18 and he also had game points in the second which he lost 14-12. Despite recovering to win the third he ultimately fell to a 3-1 defeat. With Colin also losing his first match it was 0-3 and the visitors never recovered, only Carsten coming close in the remaining matches as he lost his final game 12-10 in the fifth. Team 1’s heaviest defeat of the season – they will be looking to stop the rot in week 19.
 
Team 2 faced a crucial relegation battle in Division 1 against North Merchiston 3. Charlie Brindley and Gary McDougal called on the services of James Wighton in the absence of Ian Hislop (much to the relief of Amelia who had been dreading playing Ian). And that was probably the difference between the teams – Gary had a difficult night with only one win and despite Charlie’s excellent undefeated night in singles play, the Edinburgh outfit came out on top with a 6-4 victory. Team 2 knew that a win v NM would have relieved a lot of pressure on them towards the foot of the table – a defeat unfortunately means that they are really up against it.  
 
Team 3 have had a nightmare couple of weeks! Top of the table just before Xmas they then had to play understrength against their title rivals Fife who refused them a postponement and a 5-5 draw resulted. Then, due to ill health, they ended up playing with two players v University and lost 6-4. Understrength again this week as they travelled to Granton and despite 3 wins for Iain Johnstone, James and Julian (playing up from Team 4) could only manage one win each, annoyingly against different players, as they dropped another vital point with a 5-5 draw. As James put it, a draw felt like a loss on the way back to Penicuik in the car! 
 
Team 4 hosted West Lothian 4 in Division 2 - Julian, having played up earlier in the week, was joined by Chris Markey and Tony Brentnall as they tried to secure the Club’s first win of the week. After the first round of singles which included an 11-9 in the fifth win for Tony, the hosts held a 3-0 lead. Tony was then on the wrong side of a five-end loss in Match 4 but from there the hosts didn’t lose another singles match, their only disappointment being in the doubles as they secured an excellent 8-2 victory. It’s been an excellent first season in Division 2 for this Team and the two points gained moved them up to third place in the table. But for their two 6-4 losses in the first half of the season, they would have been challenging Team 3 for second place in the Division. 
 
Finally, in Week 18, Team 5 travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 6 in Division 3. The match saw a welcome return to the table of Graham Honeyman for the hosts after a long period out of the game and he showed in Match 1 v Craig Linton that he could still cause problems with his powerful forehand – a 3-0 win and the visitors were off to a poor start. Hannah McDonell and Team 5’s new mystery player who, according to WL, looks a bit like her dad but is more charming, then steadied the ship with wins in matches 2 and three and from there the visitors never looked back. Hannah deservedly picked up the player of the match award for her undefeated night which included a great victory against Graham. This was by far the best match of the night which saw both players play some great attacking table tennis. A 9-1 win for the visitors was secured when Craig limped over the line in the final match of the night 11-9 in the fifth. 
 
A number of players had perfect nights in singles play this week – Charlie for Team 2, Iain for Team 3, Julian and Chris for Team 4 and Hannah for Team 5. Charlie deserves a big pat on the back for his undefeated night in Division 1 and had he managed to contribute to a doubles win to secure a draw he would have walked the award. Julian had a good night but dropped himself from the doubles so he can’t win it. Chris has been very consistent when he has turned out for Team 4 and but for the doubles loss, he would have been favourite for the award. The only undefeated player in both singles and doubles though was Hannah - but she surely can't win it for the second time in three weeks?? Add to that her win in the Edinburgh Schools Championship..... Oh go on then! Well done Hannah.
 
And finally, to our Controversy of the Week. 
 
So here we go again in relation to the Heriot Watt mid-season promotion saga. This Report is published deliberately late this week because we thought that after last week's "issues" maybe a change of plan would have been a possibility - but last night (Wed 29th Jan) HW made their Division 1 debut - so it's settled they are playing the rest of the season in Div 1. The issue, about which there is probably not much point talking now, related to the conditions which were placed on HW to fulfil their Division 3 fixtures, 3 of which were outstanding at the turn of the year. They played two of those fixtures on the same night (how's that even possible??) and then last week took on Edinburgh University.

Not at full strength, HW lost 6-4. So what we hear you say. Well, there had of course been assurances given to all that HW would play equally as strong teams against all opponents in Division 3. Their promotion was based on the fact that they would win every match 10-0, 9-1 or at worst 8-2. Two weeks ago they only managed a 7-3 win v an understrength North Merchiston side - add to that a 6-4 defeat and their last two matches have a combined match score of 11-9.

A number of emails flew in to the League Committee from various clubs. The response - unfortunate that it happened but no need to cancel the promotion. So Division 1 it is for HW but what about the effect on the teams in Div 3. Edinburgh Uni now have a bonus 2 points it seems and even more bizarre is the fact that if HW still appeared in the Division 3 table they would only be tied for first place with our friends from West Lothian who have, just like HW, only lost one match all season. The title would still be up for grabs and a straight dogfight between the two strongest teams in the League would ensue. Why should West Lothian not be promoted as well as HW? They have the same first half record - 10 wins and 1 defeat. What's the point in them having to play the rest of the season in a Division which they are clearly too good for? Of course the point, as proven by HW, is that none of us can guarantee that we are always going to be able to field a full side; none of us can guarantee that just because we defeated a team in the first half we will do likewise in the reverse fixture (there are numerous examples of that from the first few weeks of the second half); none of us can be sure that we're not going to have an off night and lose unexpectedly - none of us can guarantee anything - it's a sport and that's what sport is all about - if you're good enough you will advance from lower divisions to higher ones - you work for it and don't have it handed to you in the middle of a season where you aren't even leading the Division you started in! What absolute nonsense.

A suggestion has now been made that all of HW's 1st half fixtures should be expunged. The League response:

"no team in Division 3 will adversely be effected by HW's promotion...... however, an issue that has arisen by Edinburgh University IV's win, namely that Edinburgh University IV may finish in second place by a margin of two points or fewer, or on goal difference, over the team that finishes in third place. In that case we will take that into account when we draw up the new Divisional Structure in August"

​Really? Let's see what happens and then see if we need to do something about it! That surely is a recipe for disaster. The League are of course right when they say that actually this is positive for Division 3 teams because it appears that an extra team will be promoted this season, assuming that HW would have won the Division had they stayed there. OF course the famous saying which comes to mind is "To assume makes an ass out of you and me"

​So what about Division 1 - are HW good enough? They've started with a 5-5 draw v Murrayfield 6, a team struggling towards the foot of the table - that's a good result for the students, especially when you realise that that is worth two points to them and only one to their opponents - because we all know that if you secure a 5-5 draw once, you will surely do it again!! They find themselves one win away from leapfrogging EI 3 who are currently 2nd bottom, a win of course being worth 4 points to HW. That is our only gripe about the promotion into Div 1. One team playing for double points whilst the other isn't is completely unfair.

​Our League Match Secretary has suggested that we all just now need to move on, and we agree with that. We would also like to make it clear that none of the points we make are in any way directed at HW - they have done absolutely nothing wrong and good luck to them for the rest of the season, until they come up against Penicuik 2! We've moved on and will not mention this topic again - well not anytime soon anyway....

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ELTTL - Week 17 Report

21/1/2020

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Week 17 of the ELTTL started well for the Club with Tea 4’s visit to the newest League venue of the Gyle Shopping Centre as Julian Taylor, Chris Markey and Sonny Taylor took on Murrayfield 8 in Division 2. After the first round of singles Penicuik held a 2-1 lead. Match 4 saw Julian fight back from the brink of defeat to win in 5 ends v Anna Porsch but that was then cancelled out by the narrowest of wins for Ben Jamieson v Chris Markey – Chris was 2-0 up but lost end 3 13-11 before end 4 went the way of the youngster 16-14! Chris never recovered from that body blow and it got worse for the visitors in Match 6 as Mike Letchford came back from 2-0 down (and heavy defeats at that) to win the last 3 ends 14-12, 11-9, 13-11! Suddenly the match score was 3-3 and the momentum was clearly with the hosts. However, a straightforward doubles win was then followed by a straightforward victory for Chris over Anna and at 5-3 up Julian came back from 2-0 down v Mike to level the scores before Mike dished out to father the same as he had to son with a tight win in the fifth end. The two youngsters were left to battle out the last match – an eagerly anticipated contest which didn’t quite live up to expectations as Sonny prevailed 3-0 to give the visitors a tough 6-4 win.
 
Wednesday night at Ladywood saw three Penicuik v Edinburgh Uni matches. The last time University had visited Penicuik’s first team it had been in Division 1 and a certain University character had caused mayhem and destruction (not on the table – just with everyone else in the Hall). Fortunately, on this occasion that individual was nowhere to be seen and the night passed without incident.  Edinburgh Uni can think themselves very fortunate, however, as both our Team 1 and Team 3 ended up with only two players. Colin Green and David Melrose were the only two available for Team 1 but it would be OK we weren’t up against Fife so a postponement was surely an option – whilst University may not have consented to a postponement, to have not asked for one was foolish in the extreme! With two players it was never going to be easy and when Colin lost the first match of the night, Team 1 were really up against it. A doubles victory gave them hope of a draw but a 4-6 defeat followed, with two wins for Colin and 1 for David.
 
Team 4 were truly unfortunate. They turned up with three players, Iain Johnstone, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and James Wighton but after the warm-up, Iain had to go home and was unable to play due to ill health. The resultant disaster materialised as Team 3 also fell to a 6-4 defeat. A loss in the doubles for James and Krys sealed their fate, all in the same week as their rivals for the title Fife were given a concession by Granton – first they refuse Team 3 a postponement and they get ultra-lucky  with an illness to one of our players and a concession from another team – who says bad sportsmanship doesn’t pay!
 
It was left to Team 2 to try and salvage something from Wednesday night in Division 1 and also to give them some hope in their relegation battle. At 4-2 up after two rounds of singles matches, Charlie Brindley, Gary McDougal and Ian Hislop knew that the doubles fixture would prove crucial. And the doubles went the distance with Charlie and Ian pulling through 11-8 in the crucial final end. Gary then secured both points in Match 8 and despite the last two matches going the way of the students a 6-4 victory was secured. It was a busy week for Team 3 who two nights later visited the University Team again (why on earth did they not just play our home match for double points!!!). A completely different trio turned out for University and they reversed the result with a 6-4 win. Ian won 2 whilst Gary and Charlie added one each – on this occasion the doubles wasn’t even close as Gary and Ian fell to a 3-0 defeat. 
 
Our Player of the Week is a difficult one this week. There were some vital wins from Chris and Sonny to secure a Team 4 victory and huge wins for Gary and Charlie as Team 2 secured a much needed victory victory Edinburgh Uni. But this week, and a first for this season we think, the award goes to a player in a losing team. He did all he could to prevent a defeat with a full house of singles wins for Team 3 – well done to Krzysztof. 
 
And finally, to our Controversy of the Week. 
 
We’ve spent plenty of time looking at other clubs this season so for a change we’re going to concentrate on our own internal issues! There’s always an argument at the start of the season about team selection and the number of teams we can manage. Some think that each team should really have 4 players to cover for ill health, holidays, work commitments, other family issues etc. It had been thought that Team 1 was going to struggle with just three registered players - Carsten had indicted he was unlikely to be able to play every week. Our President, although registered for Team 5, sat on the sidelines in the first half of the season, willing to play and be committed to Team 1 if needed. He waited for a call up that never came. Remarkably Team 1 only played one match not at full strength and they won that with the assistance of Charlie and Gary from Team 2. Having not been called upon at all in the first half, week 1 after Xmas saw Team 5 unable to field 3 players from a pool of 5 so Greig answered the SOS call and made his div 3 debut. 
 
The day after that match Team 1 came calling indicating that they needed him to play against University last week – too late - he’s now committed to Div 3 and not allowed to play up. That caused some rancour in Team 1s ranks – well, only one player was actually annoyed, and he made it clear to anyone who would listen at Ladywood last week that he was unhappy. His view was that the Club’s priority should be to ensure a fourth payer was available for our “top team” who were having a terrific season, the best in his memory. Should Team 1 be more important than the club’s other teams? We think it should certainly be a priority to ensure that our top team stays in the highest possible division but equally we should be looking to give all our teams the best chance of promotion. More important in our view is to ensure that teams avoid relegation. Team 1s terrific first half has already (barring an absolute disaster) ensured their Premier status for next year. Of course Team 1 had the option of seeking a postponement of their fixture – surely if their priority (and ours as a Club) was to have them finish in the highest possible position in the Premier then it goes without saying that a postponement should have been requested.  None was sought and that was utterly senseless.
 
Our Team 2 selection has also been criticised – and on this occasion, that criticism is probably justified. Their team of 3 includes one player who is only in the country for a small part of the season. Add to that that Iain J, registered in Team 3 cant play up and it is easy to see how they’re going to struggle this season. We’re only in January and 9 substitutions have already been used. Crucial matches to come and the prospect of being understrength looms large.
 
Unhappiness at PTTC – surely not - its only other Clubs we fall out with isn’t it? We’re just like any normal family it would seem – we have regular fights along the way but love each other dearly! 


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ELTTL - Week 16 Report

13/1/2020

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After the festive break the Club got back into League action with a quiet week as three of our five teams took to the table. 
 
First up were Team 1 of Colin Green, Carsten Giebeler and David Melrose who travelled to Bathgate to take on West Lothian 1, a team who they had fallen to 6-4 in the reverse fixture at Ladywood. If WL had had a regular third player this year might they be top of the Division? They have effectively relied on their top two, Brian Wright and Dariusz Szymczak throughout the season and they did so again last Monday with an even better result than in the first half – both were undefeated, and a doubles victory gave them a 7-3 victory. Carsten came close losing 9-11 in the fifth to Brian but in the end, the only other close match was Colin’s five set win v Steve Collins. A deserved win for the hosts.
 
On Wednesday evening, Team 2 hosted Murrayfield 4 separated by a massive 14 points in the Division 1 table. Murrayfield 4 look on course to secure a place in the Premier next season (along with Murrayfield 3 who are top) – what a nightmare that will be for the rest of the Premier division next season – each team will have 8 matches v Murrayfield opposition – maybe they should start their own league given their strength in depth! Charlie Brindley, Gary McDougal and Ian Hislop never looked like causing an upset to the form book despite starting brightly as Charlie won the first match of the night – the next 9 matches all went the way of the visitors although in fairness to Team 2, 3 of those matches were close five-enders. Team 2 have two massive matches this week as they play University twice in the space of three days.
 
Team 4 hosted Haddington 3 in Division 2 expecting a close match given the reverse fixture in East Lothian had been won by the Penicuik side by the narrowest of margins (6-4). Team Captain Julian sat out as Sonny Taylor, Chris Markey and Tony Brentnall sought to get 2020 off to a good start. The first two matches of the night were to prove crucial. Sonny recovered from an 11-3 fourth end loss to squeeze home 12-10 in the fifth in match 1 before Chris then recovered from 2 ends to 1 down to win 11-6 in the fifth in match 2. Although Tony lost match 3, from there the hosts powered home losing only 3 more ends on the way to an excellent 9-1 victory.
 
Finally, in Week 16, Team 5 made their first outing of the New Year as they travelled to Murrayfield 9 on Thursday evening. This was going to be tricky – George and Kristian were both unavailable whilst Rachel was struggling with flu like symptoms – that left Hannah McDonell and Craig Linton to make the trip to Royal High. At the last minute though they brought in some new young lad to make his Division 3 debut. Hannah, playing only her second league match of the season, got the side off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win in Match 1, but that was cancelled out as Craig fell in straight sets to Robert Inder. Match 4 was to prove pivotal as Hannah held her nerve in a tight encounter with Robert to win it 11-9 in the fifth. With the new lad somehow managing to win his three a draw was secured and when Craig and Hannah combined for a victory in the doubles the match win was secured. Craig won his last singles match to make the final score 7-3. 
 
Our Player of the Week this week sees a fight between three undefeated players, Chris and Sonny for Team 4 and the new guy for Team 5? He didn’t play the doubles though so he’s probably out of the running. Sonny and Chris played together in the doubles so we can’t split them on that basis. The visitors awarded POTM to Chris, so surely, he must pick up the award? Hang on – a last minute contender has popped up – for her two crucial wins and a victory in the doubles which resulted in the overall win for Team 5 well done to Hannah! 
 
And finally, to our Controversy of the Week. 
 
The Heriot Watt promotion fiasco still drags on. As we reported before the Xmas break, it looked like they wouldn’t be able to fulfil their 3 outstanding fixtures in Division 3 before their Division 1 campaign got underway. They had a free week last week after their first Division 1 fixture had to be postponed so no doubt, they would have got something played then to catch up. Eh no! Never mind they’ve got a tough week this week with two matches – oh hold on they’re both on the same night!! Which one are they going to play? Who knows? Who cares?? What we do care about, however, is that given the ridiculous double points on offer to them, one solitary win for HW will see them leap out of the relegation zone and if they can add even a draw to that they will jump up 5 places! That cannot be right. 
 
Away from that ongoing saga, the only other mildly controversial matter as the New Year got off to a mixed start for the Club related to the new lad who turned out for Team 5. There were a few raised eyebrows from other Murrayfield Club members who were training at Royal High as our Club President made his Division 3 debut. Fortunately, it seems his reputation isn’t that well known in the lower divisions after Murrayfield 9 awarded him the Player of the Match Award for winning his 3! Was he really heard to be saying “how dare they – do they not know who I am!!” Now that’s controversial!
 
Happy New Year to all.
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