Week 12 of the League was another busy one for the Club with some of our teams playing their final fixtures in the first half of the season. 

Premier Division
Team 1 v Heriot-Watt University I (Away)

This was always going to be a tough night for Colin Green, Peter Aird, and Krzysztof Laszkiewicz (playing up) as they travelled to Heriot-Watt to take on a formidable looking trio of opponents. Colin picked up Penicuik’s only win, defeating Harry Blackhall in a five-set battle. Peter and Krzysztof both fought hard but couldn’t add to the score. Krzysztof was over the moon though to pick up an end in his match against Yubo Zhou Rasmussen. Nathan Hogg was the standout player of the night untroubled in his three 3-0 wins. It’s been a tough run for Team 1 with player availability issues over the last few weeks – they have one match left in the first half of the season and will be looking to finish on a high.

Division 1
Team 2 v Murrayfield V (Home)

After picking up their first point of the season in Week 10, this match looked like being a close contest for James Wighton, Hannah McDonell, and Greig McDonell. Greig picked up two singles wins and Hannah an excellent win v Jonas Falter in the first six singles to draw the match level at 3-3 going into the crucial doubles fixture. Greig and Hannah combined to win in five sets, and the hosts held their first lead of the night. 4-3 up going into the last round of singles fixtures, surely another point (or even a win) was on the cards. Hannah was 2-0 up against Julio Lopez and coasting until she glanced across to see Dad struggling against the excellent young Cayden Fleury – she suddenly realised that she needed to win and that pressure let Julio back into it. Julio was a major factor on the night coming back from losing positions against both James and Hannah to win 5 set battles. The last match saw James take on Jonas and it just wasn’t to be -a devastating 6-4 loss for Team 2 ended their first half on a real downer.

Division 2
Team 3 v ESC 2 (Away)

This proved to be a difficult away fixture for Craig Linton, Bob Porteous, and Chamika Diyunugalge (playing up). When the first five matches flew by with only three ends being picked up by the visitors a 10-0 rout looked on the cards. Bob managed an excellent 3-2 win in match 6 to get the Penicuik side on the board and when he combined with Craig for a doubles victory and that was followed by Craig winning match 8 a remarkable recovery remained a possibility. A 5-0 deficit turned into a 5-5 draw would have been great to write about, but alas the last two matches went the way of the hosts as they secured a 7-3 victory!

Division 3
Team 4 v Edinburgh International III (Home)

In a season where most of our teams have struggled for consistency, thank goodness for Team 4! It was another strong performance from Aidan Craig, Chamika Diyunugalge, and Ian Hislop as they faced Edinburgh International. Aidan was unbeaten in singles, whilst Chamika and Ian picked up two wins each, Ian winning two five-setters. The doubles pairing of Chamika and Aidan lost in straight sets but overall the team maintained their position at the top of the division with an excellent 7-3 victory.

Division 4
Team 5 v Murrayfield X (Away)

Although Team 5 endured another tough away night, the feedback from the players was they had a fun match with humour maintained throughout.  Roscoe Cairney, Rachel Petrie, and Iain Caddell fell to an 8-2 defeat to significantly higher rated players and there can be positives taken from the performances of the Penicuik side – it’s been a difficult first half of the season for Team 5 but there’s only one way things can go in the second half – and that’s upwards!  

Division 5
Team 6 v Dunbar II (Home)

After a visit to Gullane the previous week it was time for a visit from another East Lothian outfit for Team 6 as Dunbar made the trek to Ladywood in Division 5. John Grant, Michael Daly, and Tony Walker took to the table for the hosts. The Dunbar side had more experience than our league "newbies" and it showed in their consistency levels. Tony picked up Penicuik’s only win of the night as Team 6 fell to a 9-1 defeat.

Player of the Week
There wasn’t much competition for this week’s award but even had there been this young man would have probably still won it. For an 8th consecutive time he won all three of his singles to help Team 4 remain at the top of the Division 3 table. 24 matches played and 24 wins which bring his first half of the season to an end, and what a first half of the season it's been! Well done (for the third time) to Aidan.
 
Controversy of the Week
We’ve had a number of problems recently with fielding full sides, resulting in us calling up players from teams below. In the old days we would have just put three players into each team and that would be it. We don’t know why, but these days it seems that you probably need a squad of at least 4, if not 5, to manage a season of table tennis fixtures. That seems crazy and although we have often poked fun at some clubs for having a huge list of players available to them, maybe that's the way to go.

That said, there has to be a balance – not many of our players would be happy if they were in a team of 7 or 8 playing a fairly short season. And the problem with a big pool of players is that it’s just potluck for the opponents as to which “team” you end up facing. Whilst the University are probably a bad example, their Division 1 side had 9 players in their pool at the start of the season and now 8 (no idea where one of them has disappeared to after playing a few matches). The most anyone has played is 4 times, three have played 3 times, one has played twice, two only once and two not at all. And despite having 9 players registered, they’ve had to rely on two players playing up and have played with only two players on two occasions! Now that is crazy!

We can see why Haddington might be a bit perturbed. When they played the students in mid-November they had a full team out and probably three of their highest rated players. Haddington were challenging at the top of the table but fell to a resounding 8-2 defeat. Fast forward 3 weeks and the students face off against Murrayfield 6 who were sitting in third place a point behind the top 2 (Haddington and Murrayfield 4). The students turn up with two players, one of whom was playing up from Division 4! An 8-2 win for Murrayfield who probably couldn’t believe their luck! Is there any way of avoiding such a scenario arising? Probably not. It seems to just be a matter of luck or bad fortune depending on what side you’re on. It does, however, cause others to complain. Given the closeness of the Division 1 title battle, how can it be fair that one team vying for the top 2 can get such an easy ride whilst another team doesn't? 

Our format at Ladywood this season is a bit different and we have more space available for three matches every week. The result of that is that there should be less disruptions to play with balls flying over from other tables - try telling Tony that! He was frustrated that the set-up of the hall meant that a larger proportion of errant balls seemed to land in his court. Maybe something we can get a bit better for the second half of the season.

Only three matches left for us before the Xmas break – Santa is nearly here to bring us all new equipment which will undoubtedly turn our fortunes around in the New Year, unless you’re waiting on such equipment arriving from some dodgy Japanese site that Kristian recommended!! Still on a boat somewhere seems to be his daily update!! Maybe it will arrive in time for Easter just as the season ends!!! 

Week 11 of the ELTTL was another busy one for the Club with all six of our teams in action.

Premier Division
Team 1 v West Lothian 1 (Home)

A tough night for Colin Green, Peter Aird, and Chamika Diyunugalge (playing up) as they hosted joint top of the table West Lothian. Despite some close sets, the hosts were unable to get on the scoresheet, falling to a 0–10 defeat. Colin came closest to getting a win on the board, losing a tight four-setter to Noah Fletcher (including a marathon 17–19 fourth end). Peter also went to four ends against Noah. This was a baptism of fire for Chamika playing up from Division 3 – his post-match comments were that he took part! The West Lothian youngsters had another terrific night. 

Division 1
Team 2 v North Merchiston 3 (Away)

A hard-fought draw for Greig McDonell, Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, and Hannah McDonell against North Merchiston. Greig was the best performer on the night, winning all three of his singles and combining with Hannah for a doubles victory. Krzysztof picked up a crucial win in a five-setter to produce the fifth win of the night whilst Hannah lost a close five-set match against fellow youngster Julia, both players showing the way table tennis should be played – all-out attack from both players in a cracking match. In the end 5-5 was probably a fair result.

Division 2
Team 3 v West Lothian 3 (Home)

Team 3 continues to have a really difficult time of it in Division 2 – they finished 3rd last season and were hopeful of pushing for promotion again this season. They haven’t quite clicked yet and going into the match they sat with only one win out of six matches played, although in fairness they have also picked up three draws along the way.  This proved to be another close match and with the help of Craig Linton’s two wins in his first two matches, the teams were level at 3-3 going into the doubles fixture. When he combined with Charlie Brindley for a doubles victory the hosts had the advantage. A point was then secured as Bob Porteous won match 8 – 5-3 up with Charlie and Craig to play their last singles. Team 3 can’t buy a win at the moment – two losses and this became their fourth 5-5 draw of the season.

Division 3
Team 4 v North Merchiston 5 (Away)

Our team of the year so far has been Team 4 but their first loss of the season in Week 10 coincided with the absence of their top two players in terms of averages. They remained unavailable and the same trio therefore were in action against a young Merchiston side. A superb result followed for Chamika Diyunugalge, Ian Hislop, and Patrick Shanks as they came away with an 8–2 win. Chamika was unbeaten in singles. Ian and Patrick both picked up two wins and the doubles pairing of Chamika and Ian won a five-set thriller.

Division 4
Team 5 v Edinburgh University VI (Home)

Team 5 have been struggling to come to terms with some difficult opponents in Division 4 so far this season. It was another difficult night for Mat Dyluk, Roscoe Cairney, and Rachel Petrie as they hosted Edinburgh University VI. Roscoe picked up Penicuik’s only win, defeating Elise Hayman in five sets. Rachel lost another close one 12-10 in the fifth but overall the students were in complete control as they secured a 9-1 victory.

Division 5
Team 6 v Gullane 2 (Away)

Team 6 made the long trip East to take on Gullane in Division 5. This was a terrific and close match for John Grant, Stuart Bennett, and Tony Walker. At 4-1 down the night looked like it was going completely the way of the East Lothian outfit. Stuart kept the visitors in the match with an 11-9 in the fifth win in match 6 but when John and Tony lost the doubles it looked to be all over. Tony then had an excellent five set win and when John won match 9, the visitors trailed 5-4. The problem for Stuart in the last match of the night was that he had to play the Gullane side’s number 1 Andrew Firth who had sauntered through his previous two singles matches and unfortunately for the Penicuik trio, he did the same in the last match of the night as he secured a 6-4 win for the hosts. Tony had an excellent night, winning two singles whilst John and Stuart each picked up a singles win.

Scottish National League

Our SNL side were in action in Dundee for the second round of fixtures – three matches for Greig McDonell, James Wighton and Melissa Cheung which would go a long way to determining their division 4 future. The standard of the SNL is extremely high, not only at the top end of the League where most of the best players in Scotland play, but also in the lower divisions. Take for example Edinburgh International 2 playing in our Division. Their team was made up of three ELTTL Division 1 players and a Premier League player. Playing in the fourth level of the National League! They were our second match of the day and only Greig managed to secure a win as we fell to a 5-1 defeat. First up, however, was a match v Grange B and the Penicuik trio knew that they needed a win to give them a chance of Division 4 survival. Greig and Melissa won their first matches but a loss for James left the match in the balance. When Melissa lost Match 4 the scores were levelled. Greig regained the lead with a win in Match 5 before James secured an excellent win in Match 6 to give us a vital 4-2 win. Going into the last match of the day v North Ayrshire C there was an opportunity for the Midlothian side, their opponents having lost their first match and picked up a draw in their second match. Greig was in trouble at 2-0 down in the first match of the fixture but turned the game on its head for a 3-2 win. Melissa and then James both won their first singles and at 3-0 up a point was secured. Further wins for Melissa and Greig gave us our biggest win of the SNL season. That terrific 5-1 victory puts us into a mid-table position with two matches of the season left.

Player of the Week

Worthy of a shout out this week is Chamika for an excellent night at North Merchiston – undefeated in singles play and a victory in the doubles, partnered by Ian Hislop who hasn’t won a doubles match in about 10 years! Any other week and the award would probably have been yours Chamika! But this week’s award goes to a player who won 9 out of his 10 matches played. In addition to his three singles wins and doubles victory with Hannah in Team 2’s draw with North Merchiston, he spearheaded our SNL team winning five out of his six singles played – well done to Greig.

Controversy of the Week

Team 2’s match against North Merchiston threw up some controversial moments—and James was nowhere to be seen! One of the NM players had a habit of bouncing the ball Novak Djokovic style before serving, often standing 3 to 6 feet to the side of the table, bouncing the ball on the ground, and then swooping in to serve. Like Novak, the number and duration of bounces seemed to increase with the importance of the point.

During a match against El Presidente, a stray ball from an adjoining court interrupted the pre-service routine. The player apologised for the disruption, only to be met with, “Don’t worry, I’ve got about another half hour before the ball is served anyway!” That didn’t go down well, and the NM player responded by taking even longer before serving.

What was entirely uncalled for, however, was the NM player starting to “stare down” his opponent as if they were in a boxing ring. Never one to shy away from drama, El Presidente pointed out that this was table tennis, not an MMA cage fight. The NM player seemed unable to prevent his behaviour, and the match turned somewhat sour. There was a handshake at the end, but the NM player left the hall immediately after his loss, leaving his two teammates to finish the last two matches alone.

While it was a challenging week for the Club in the League, let’s finish on a high by recognising the spirit of the game. Team 6’s visit to Gullane was a reminder of what makes table tennis special. Our players were full of praise for the warm hospitality, the friendly atmosphere, and the genuine sportsmanship shown by their opponents. In a league where venues and behaviour can sometimes draw criticism, Gullane stood out as a shining example - lovely people, a welcoming club, and even tea and biscuits to round off the evening! This is what table tennis should be about, competitive matches played in a fair and friendly manner, with camaraderie and respect at the heart of it all. Here’s to more nights like that!

Onwards to Week 12 we go!