Week 10 of the Edinburgh League was a busy one for the Club with all six of our teams in action and with two matches each for Teams 2 and Team 6 – so 8 matches in total to get through – don’t worry just short snapshots of the games to follow!

Premier Division
Team 1 v Murrayfield 1 (Away)

Penicuik’s Team 1 faced a tough challenge away to the reigning champions, Murrayfield 1. The team featured Colin Green, Peter Aird, and a debut for Andrew Nimmo. Colin picked up Penicuik’s only singles win, defeating Simon Ledwick in a five-end thriller (10–12, 7–11, 11–8, 11–3, 11–7). The pairing of Colin and Andrew combined for a strong doubles performance, winning in straight sets (11–3, 11–5, 11–7). Despite some close contests, including a five-setter for Peter against Gordon Muir, Murrayfield’s experience showed as they took an 8-2 win.

Division 1
Team 2 v Edinburgh Sports Club I (Home)

Greig McDonell was the player of the night for Penicuik, picking up both of the team’s wins – a straight sets victory over Alexander Asyunkin and a four-set win against Masoud Nowbaveh. He also narrowly lost a five-setter to Richard Beer (11–13 in the decider) and, with James Wighton, lost a marathon doubles match in five ends.  James and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz both fought hard but were unable to add to the score. Edinburgh Sports Club’s Richard Beer was unbeaten in singles and doubles as the visitors triumphed 8-2.
 
Team 2 v Edinburgh University II (Away)

Team 2 were in action again on Friday night as they visited Edinburgh University II. Greig was again the standout, picking up two singles wins – a five-set comeback against Weibo Sun and a four-set win over Yufeng Xia (Alex). Greig also lost a close five-setter to Jieyu Ren. Krzysztof and James both fought hard, with Krys taking a set in two of his singles and James pushing Yufeng Xia to four ends. A doubles win for the visitors made the score respectable. The University’s Jieyu Ren was unbeaten in singles as Team 2 fell to a 7-3 defeat.

Division 2
Team 3 v Murrayfield 8 (Away)

Both Charlie Brindley and Craig Linton won two singles each, with Charlie taking both of his wins in dramatic five-set battles. The pair combined for a straight sets doubles victory. With only two players, Penicuik had to forfeit three matches but still managed to secure a draw thanks to their strong performances. In the end a 5-5 draw was an excellent return for the visitors.

Division 3
Team 4 v West Lothian 5 (Home)

Ian Hislop led the way for Penicuik with two singles wins, including and a five-set comeback win. Patrick Shanks and Chamika Diyunugalge each picked up one singles win. The doubles pairing of Chamika and Patrick were unable to pick up the important fifth win on a disappointing night for Team 4. This was Team 4’s first match without young Aidan Craig who currently sits atop of the Division 3 averages and he was missed. A first defeat for Team 4 as they fell 6-4 but they still find themselves in a three-way tie for the lead.

Division 4
Team 5 v West Lothian VII (Away)

Roscoe Cairney picked up the team’s only singles win whilst Rachel Petrie and Mat Dyluk both battled hard but were unable to add to the score. The doubles pairing of Rachel and Roscoe combined for a four-set win as Team 5’s tough run continued with an 8-2 loss.

Division 5
Team 6 v West Lothian VIII (Home)

Despite their best efforts, Team 6 were unable to get on the scoresheet against a talented West Lothian side. John Grant came closest, taking two ends off Robert Rodzoch and pushing him to five sets. Stuart Bennett and Ian Millar both fought hard, with Stuart taking an end off Robert Rodzoch.  West Lothian had a couple of youngsters in action who are definitely ones to watch for the future.

Team 6 v Murrayfield XIV (Away)

Like Team 2, Team 6 fitted in a rearranged fixture to Week 10 with a trip to the Gyle to play Murrayfield 14. This was always going to be tricky for the visitors, with their opponents sitting third in the Division 5 table and so it proved. John Grant, Michael Daly and Ian Millar. Michael was unlucky in Match 1 on the night losing out in five ends and when John won match 2 there was hope for the visitors that they could perhaps pull off a surprise – that hope was short lived with only one further end being secured throughout the night as the home side picked up a 9-1 victory.

Player of the Week

In a tough week for the club, the standout moment was Team 3’s battling 5–5 draw away to Murrayfield 8, achieved with only two players. Both Craig Linton and Charlie Brindley won two singles each and combined for a doubles victory. Splitting them is no easy task, but on game difference (including the doubles), Craig edges it by the narrowest of margins: Craig: 9 ends won, 6 lost, Charlie: 9 ends won, 7 lost So, by a single end, well done to Craig – Player of the Week!

Controversy of the Week
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Team 2’s match at Edinburgh University featured some truly questionable umpiring (courtesy of James) and some very dodgy serving that James just… ignored. One of the students had a habit of cupping the ball in his hand, but the main issue was dropping his hand below the table and then launching the ball up in one motion from under the table. It was pointed out that, according to the laws of table tennis, the ball should rest on an open palm, the hand must be stationary, and crucially, above the level of the table.

Was it intentional? Probably not. But after about the 20th warning from the ever-patient James, Greig finally lost patience: “Are you ever going to call a foul?” asked Greig, in a tone that was only slightly sarcastic (surely not!). James’s response? “Erm, well, one more warning I think…” before actually becoming coach and demonstrating to the student exactly what was required. Krys thought, for a moment, that James had forgotten where he was and believed Saturday morning had arrived and he was coaching the youngsters at Ladywood! For someone who can be so nasty at times, James really does have a big soft spot.

Meanwhile, Team 3’s trip to the Gyle to take on Murrayfield ended with an excellent draw, but also some grumbling about the venue. The low ceiling meant no lobs would work for our duo, and even more irritating, certainly for Craig “The Grinch” Linton, was the constant playing of Christmas music. Craig wanted to “wham” the ball, not listen to Wham all night!
 
On we roll to week 11 with only a couple of weeks left of the first half of the season!

Week 9 of the Edinburgh League saw four of our six teams in action. 

Team 1 v North Merchiston 2
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With Ryan Docherty unavailable, Colin Green, Peter Aird and Greig McDonell (stepping up from Team 2) produced an excellent 7-3 victory in their Premier Division match v North Merchiston. Colin led the way with 3 wins, Peter added 2, Greig chipped in with 1, and the pair of Colin and Peter secured the doubles. A strong performance all round.

Team 3 v North Merchiston 4

It's been a difficult start to the season in Division 2 for Kristian Skotzen, Charlie Brindley and Bob Porteous. They faced a North Merchiston side reduced to two players – but that didn’t stop Graham Booth and Julia Domegala from turning the tables on their hosts. Despite the numerical advantage, Team 3 fell to a 6–4 defeat in what was an incredibly close contest. The match featured four fifth-end deciders, and the visitors won all four – that was the difference on the night. Charlie picked up 2 wins, while Bob and Kristian each added 1.

Team 5 v North Merchiston 6

Rachel Petrie, Roscoe Cairney and Iain Caddell faced another difficult match in Division 4 as they battled hard against their Edinburgh based opponents. Thy endured another tough outing, going down 7–3. All three players managed 1 win apiece, with the visitors proving too strong overall.

Team 4 v Haddington

Aidan Craig, Chamika Diyunugalge and Jay Jayalath didn’t mess around as they stormed to an emphatic 8–2 win in their Division 3 match. Aidan maintained his 100% record with 3 wins, while Jay and Chamika contributed 2 each, and the doubles rounded off a dominant night. This result keeps Team 4 firmly at the top of the Division 3 table.

Player of the Week

Two players went unbeaten in singles and also won their doubles – Colin Green and Aidan Craig.  Colin won 9 ends and lost 2 whilst Aidan won 9 ends and lost 1. On paper, Aidan edges it… but he’s already claimed this award twice this season. We’re afraid you can’t win it again, Aidan! And if you’re not taking it, Colin isn’t either – so where do we turn now? This week, the award goes to someone who continues to put in the effort with the kids on Saturday mornings, most recently spending hours on her Halloween special. The kids look forward to her coaching, partly because they get a break from James, but mainly because they get to play creative games. She’s also back playing in the League this season and has done all this while going through a bit of a difficult time with her health. Well done to Hannah – a true star off and on the table!

Controversy of the Week

In a match involving Team 3, Craig and Kristian were playing doubles when their opponents hit a shot so wildly off target that Craig instinctively headed it to stop it flying into the neighbouring court. Common sense says the point was over – the ball was clearly sailing out unless a hurricane suddenly swept through Ladywood! However, the opponents argued the point should go to them because the ball hadn’t crossed the end line and was therefore still “live”. Really? Penicuik’s view was that once the ball is obviously out, the rally is done – but they weren’t 100% sure. The opponents were adamant that until it passes the end line, it’s in play.

The rules offer some guidance:

A player obstructs the ball if they, or anything they wear or carry, touches it in play when it is above or travelling towards the playing surface, not having touched their court since last being struck by their opponent - a point is scored if a player obstructs the ball.

And another key rule:
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Unless the rally is a let, a player shall score a point if the ball passes over their court or beyond their end line without touching their court, after being struck by an opponent. So, was Craig guilty of obstruction? Or was this just common sense versus technicality? Answers on a postcard… Meantime, Craig’s heading skills might earn him a football contract with his beloved Hibs, but in table tennis, maybe just use your bat, Craig!

​Week 8 of the Edinburgh League was a busy one – four matches played at Ladywood on Wednesday night was fun!  
 
Team 1 were understrength as they hosted Murrayfield 3. Colin Green and Peter Aird were without Ryan Docherty and had to call up Greig McDonell as a replacement. Only Colin was victorious in the first set of three matches – a mammoth five end victory against Grant Williams. Peter was unlucky to lose out to the Murrayfield top player – he drew his match level at 2-2 after a 17-15 fourth end victory but couldn’t sustain it in the fifth. The second set of matches saw a 2-1 advantage in favour of the hosts and the match was tied at 3-3. The doubles produced a terrific performance from Colin & Peter, and the hosts held their first lead of the night. One victory needed from the last three matches – Peter lost out to Simon Ledwick whilst Colin battled away against the top-class Saravanan Veloumourougane – this was a classic match full of top-quality table tennis. It was destined to go the distance and despite some unbelievable attacking shots from the Murrayfield player, somehow Colin managed to stay in the fifth and the match reached 10-10. Unfortunately for Colin, he couldn’t quite make it over the line losing 12-10. Last match up saw Greig take on Grant. Whilst he gave it a go, the closeness of the overall match was summed up in the third end as one deuce followed another until eventually Grant got over the line 19-17! A disappointing 6-4 loss for the hosts having been 4-3 up.
 
Team 2 had rearranged a match against Murrayfield 6 in Division 1 meaning an interesting 4 matches on at Ladywood – despite some concerns as to how we would make that work, in the end the set-up was positive but the match itself not so good. James Wighton, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz and Hannah McDonell lost the first six matches, Krys being the only player to pick up any ends. The doubles saw Hannah & James play some excellent stuff and they were disappointed to lose in five. Hannah continued her form from the doubles in her last match of the night and managed a good five end win to avoid the team suffering a whitewash – a 9-1 defeat for Team 2.
 
Team 3 were also at home on Wednesday evening as Craig Linton, Bob Porteous and Charlie Brindley faced top of the table Corstorphine 1 in Division 2. At 2-0 down the hosts were in trouble – Charlie’s first match of the night went the distance and a 14-12 fifth end win got the hosts on the board. After the second round of singles and following wins for Bob and Craig the match was levelled a 3-3. Often crucial the doubles saw Craig and Charlie battle hard but when they fell in five ends it was advantage Corstorphine. A win for Craig but a loss for Bob left Charlie needing a win against Dave Grant to secure a draw for the home side, This was never going to be pretty but everyone probably knew it was going to go long – Charlie looked in control taking the first two sets 12-10, 11-7 but back came Dave with the next two ends 11-6, 11-7. It was fitting that the decider went the distance – Charlie held on and secured an excellent 12-10 win to secure the draw for the hosts.
 
The fourth team in action at Ladywood on Wednesday was Team 5. Roscoe Cairney, Rachel Petrie and Iain Caddell took to the table for the hosts looking to get a positive boost in their quest to survive in Division 4 as they took on Haddington. Only Roscoe got on the board in the first round of singles matches and it was a similar outcome in the next three with Iain getting a win on the board. 4-2 down going into the doubles and Rachel and Roscoe knew they needed a win – the hosts were in every game but when they fell to a four end defeat the East Lothian side had secured at least a point. Unfortunately, the pattern of the previous singles matches continued with only one win out of the last three as Team 5 fell to a 7-3 defeat.
 
A busy Wednesday night was concluded with Team 4’s away visit to Gullane in Division 3 – undefeated going into the match, Team Captain Patrick Shanks kept faith with the same trio from the previous week as Aidan Craig, Jay Jayalath and Chamika Diyunugalge made the trip to East Lothian. Match 1 saw Aidan go the distance against the Gullane number 1. The deciding fifth end sums up the season that young Aidan has been having – 10-7 down and facing defeat, he found a way to level the game at 10-10 before he exchanged a number of deuces before winning 15-13. The next three games all went the way fo the visitors before the East Lothian side threatened a comeback with wins in games 5 and 6 – 4-2 to the visitors and when Aidan and Jay won the doubles a point was secured. Team 4 have had a fantastic start to the season and that continued as all three players won their final matches to give them an 8-2 win.
 
And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 8.  Only one player this week was undefeated – well done again to Aidan – top of the Division 3 averages with 18 wins out of 18 and his Team are sitting undefeated at the top of the Div 3 Table. It’s been a fantastic start to the season for Aidan and he’s been a candidate for this award every week he’s played. In the Premier League, Colin won 2 out of 3 and the match he lost was an absolute classic – Colin is playing some fantastic stuff at the moment and even though he lost a match, if this award is about the quality of play, he must surely be in the running. Let’s also give a shout out to one of our new players, Iain Caddell – first season in the League and he won his first league match during the week for Team 5 and was closer than his teammates were to winning a second game – well done to him. But this week’s winner is a man who held his nerve under intense pressure to salvage a draw for his side – two wins out of three and in his first match he pulled through 14-12 in the fifth and in the all important final match of the night he squeezed through 13-11 in the fifth – crucial wins for Team 3 – well done to Charlie.
 
We thought one of our biggest controversies of the season was going to be of our own making after we allowed a rearranged match to be played on a night when we already had three matches on the go at Ladywood. Although some of our opponents weren’t happy having to hang around until we were able to get some extra space, it actually worked out well and we managed to get four matches on each on two tables – in fairness the hall was buzzing with 24 players in the hall not to mention some supporters.
 
Speaking of supporters, Krys brought his two young kids along and they sat quietly all night until dad was finished losing all his matches and then disappeared. One of our opposing teams also brought a child with them – not quite so quiet and in Colin’s crucial match towards the end of the night for Team 1, at 9-8 in the fifth the young child who was happily running around with a ball and a bat hit the ball into the court during one of the best rallies of the match – who knows whether Colin would have won the point or not but he needed all the patience he’s mustered as a teacher over the last 30 years to keep his control – his look was probably enough to get his irritation across (it would have caused many a grown man to quake in his boots). The opposing team took every opportunity they could to “mess around with the youngster” – whenever one match finished in their game, they were either on the table themselves knocking up or giving the child a shot of trying to hit the ball. Now, call us grumpy if you wish but really…… Fair enough if we had a club night running along side a league match (as Haddington do at their venue) but there were four matches on – the tables weren’t set up for some extracurricular creche type play. Yes, the child was only having fun and we’re sure there was a good reason why the child was brought along, but it was still irritating and loud. At one stage it was pointed out in a friendly manner that whilst we accepted the child was having fun, it was becoming a bit too loud – the response was that with four matches on it was loud in the hall – yeah the difference is it was loud with TT matches and the normal noises you’d expect on a busy competitive night – very different from the “fun” noises coming from one part of the hall.
 
Just so we’re clear we don’t blame our opponents for this – we blame Rachel and Roscoe for allowing it to happen – they needed to take control of the situation and lay some ground rules early on – the writing was on the wall from before a ball was hit when Colin walked in to find the youngster standing on one of our tables! Bah Humbug – bring on that Xmas spirit!!

Finally, Murrayfield appear to have found themselves another excellent player in the aforementioned Saravanan. He's playing for the Club's third team and no less than 11 players are registered above him in the top 2 teams - does that mean he's at best the 12th best player Murrayfield have?? Hmmm - guess what? He's sitting second in the individual averages in the Premier league with 17 wins out of 18 matches played - he certainly makes Murrayfield 3 a difficult team to play against! 

Only 4 matches for the Club in Week 7 of the Edinburgh League which started off on Wednesday as Team 1 faced their trickiest match of the season so far with a visit to a very strong Edinburgh International side.

The teams were well matched and last season and finished just two points apart at the end of the season. Colin Green, Peter Aird and Ryan Docherty faced Marek Domagala, Debjit Choudry and fresh from his victory in the over 50s at the Vets Assessment tournament, new recruit for EI, Dariusz Szymczak. Marek v Colin was first up and no surprise that this match went the distance. From 2-1 down Colin showed his fighting spirit ultimately winning 11-5 in the fifth. Dariusz was then too strong for Peter, but the Penicuik lead was restored when Ryan secured a straight sets victory against Debjit. Colin v Dariusz was a classic – the home player won the first 13-11, back came Colin to win the next two 11-9, 13-11 before Dariusz levelled the game with a comfortable 11-6 win in the fourth. It was fitting that the match went all the way to deuce in the decider – Colin held his nerve for a fantastic 12-10 win, and the visitors had a two-game advantage. Marek v Ryan was equally as tight, also going to a decider, this time Marek winning it 11-9 in the fifth and when Debjit defeated Peter it was back to all square at 3-3. Colin and Ryan are a formidable doubles combo, but their 3-0 win was tighter than it seems on paper – 12-10, 11-9 and then an unbelievable 19-17 win in the third – advantage Penicuik. Back came EI as Dariusz defeated Ryan before Colin completed a brilliant night for himself to secure a point for Penicuik. It was probably fitting that Marek secured a draw with his four-end win v Peter. A terrific match and probably a fair 5-5 draw. 

At Ladywood on Wednesday Team 6 faced Haddington in Division 5. John Grant, Stuart Bennett and Ian Miller took to the table for the hosts. Stuart was the only winner for the hosts in the first set of three singles as they fell 2-1 behind. The hosts looked in difficulty when John was the only winner in the second set of three, 4-2 down and in trouble – the crucial doubles went the way of John and Stuart to keep the hosts in the contest and when Stuart held his nerve to win a mammoth match 8, 11-9 in the fifth, the match was level for the first time since the start of the night. Ian lost to the Haddington undefeated number 1, but John secured a point with an excellent win in match 10. Another 5-5 result for the Club and again probably a fair point for each club in the end. 

With two 5-5 draws, could Team 4 go one better as they hosted Corstorphine 3 at home. Aidan Craig, Jay Jayalath and Chamika Diyunugalge were in action for the hosts, and they got off to the perfect start as all three players won their openers in straight sets.  After the next three singles the match was over – three more wins for the home side, although Aidan was pushed to five ends. 6-0 up as they entered the doubles fixture, and Jay and Chamika will be kicking themselves as they fell to a 12-10 fifth end loss. The hosts finished strongly, however, with two wins out of the final three singles for an excellent 8-2 win. Aidan and Jay were both undefeated in singles play and the Team’s fifth win of the season maintained their unblemished start to their division 3 campaign. Another cracking night for Aidan as he continued his brilliant start to the season. 

The week ended with Penicuik 5s trip to Heriot-Watt on Friday night. Rachel Petrie, Iain Caddell and Mat Dyluk made the trip to the Oriam whilst Team Captain Roscoe stayed at home and scared the residents of Penicuik with his Halloween guising. In the end it was Team 5 who got more of a fright with the standard of the Heriot-Watt students – Iain was the only Penicuik player to pick up an end on a difficult night for the visitors. If nothing else, the visitors were all tucked up in bed before Roscoe had finished scaring his neighbours – a quickfire 10-0 loss but in fairness the three HW players all had significantly higher ratings than the Penicuik trio. 


And so, to our Player of the Week Award for Week 7. There were three undefeated players this week – Colin, Aidan and Jay. Each of them played some brilliant stuff. Aidan’s unbelievable start to the season continued – his fifteenth consecutive win kept him on 100% for the season. Jay’s undefeated night moved him into the top 10 in the individual averages, but this week’s award has to go to the man who in the top division finds himself undefeated after 9 games played – an undefeated night in singles and a win in the doubles in a 5-5 draw was super-impressive. Add to those facts that two of his wins were against the winner of the over 50’s and the runner-up in the 40s at last weekend’s vets' tournament and it’s even more impressive. And hold on a minute, a little birdie tells us he’s just had a big birthday and has moved up an age category himself! He showed those youngsters that he’s getting better with age – well done to Colin (and a belated Happy Birthday to him too) – a fantastic start to the 2025/26 League season. 

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​Still no major issues have arisen in the League as far as we are aware but in Team 4s match this week there was a moment of controversy when one of the opposing team told Chamika and Jay that they couldn’t both give advice to Aidan at his change of ends in his second match of the night. Team 4 were told that only one player or the Non-Playing Captain as entered on the score card can do that. Team 4 didn’t dispute matters, because they didn’t know the rule, but after the match they sought clarity from others. Despite Teammate Ian thinking the opponent was right, we don’t think that is the case. The rule can be found in the Addendum to the Laws of Table Tennis on the ELTTL Website and it reads as follows: 

"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." 

Our reading of that rule is that “a fellow player” is not limited to “one single” player and so both teammates in a three-man team can offer advice. And indeed, that is what we have seen and continue to see regularly in league matches, particularly if only one table is in action at the time. We think we recall that the rationale for this rule was to stop “third parties” getting involved in coaching advice if they are not involved in the match – so for example a couple of weeks ago, coach Hannah was playing at Edinburgh International, as was Team 6. She wandered over, fed up of watching James and her old dad play and gave some “advice” or was it just “encouragement” to the newbies of Team 6. Strictly speaking she should have been told to sling her hook – but then it was Hannah and everyone loves her – had it been either of her teammates the story may have been different!! And we can understand why others not involved in a specific match and not stated as NPC shouldn’t be able to get involved – but it is certainly our view that it was never intended to mean that your own teammates couldn’t combine to give a player advice.  

Team 3 didn’t play last week but in their last match against Edinburgh University an issue arose in relation to that old chestnut of “service rules”. One of our players complained that the opponent was throwing the ball backwards on service but also hiding the ball behind either his free arm or body. Two issues in one! Super. It was a Penicuik player who was umpiring, and he was pointing out to us how difficult it was for him to see whether the ball was being hidden from the opponent or not. And of course we understand his point – he is sitting at the side of the table and where the player is serving, effectively with his back to the umpire, the umpire clearly has a very different view of what is going on than the opponent at the other end of the table.

The rule specifies that the ball shall not be hidden from the receiver and goes on to state that the server is responsible for ensuring that the umpire can be satisfied that he/she is complying with the rule! Of course, these are the ITTF Laws which also mention an assistant umpire and, in that scenario, either the umpire or the assistant is going to have a good view of what is going on – no such luxury in the Edinburgh League of course! In the end the player was warned about throwing the ball up “near vertical” and no action was taken about the “hiding the ball” with the player’s body – too difficult to call!  

The fun continues as we move into Week 8.