After the excitement and tension of the Division 2 title decider last week, Week 27 of The Edinburgh & Lothians Table Tennis League saw the attention turn to the Handicap Cup Competition and there remained the possibility of success for the Club as our defending champions, Greig McDonell, Iain Johnstone and Abby Wighton had done remarkably well to reach the semi final stage this season but faced, on paper what appeared to be a daunting task, in trying to get passed Murrayfield 1 to reach this year’s final.
The first three matches of the night were to prove crucial to the outcome of the semi-final. In match 1, Iain faced Murrayfield’s number 1 player, Calum Morrison who had already had a remarkable season by remaining undefeated throughout his Premier League campaign (57 wins and no defeats). The handicap system gave Iain a 10 point start to 21. Although he lost the first game, Iain hit back with a 21-19 win in game 2. The consistency of the Murrayfield star, however, proved too much for Iain in the next two games as he was pipped to the post 21-18 and 21-19 giving Murrayfield the perfect start.
Match 2 then saw Abby take on Charlie Ellis, a player, who like his teammate, had enjoyed a fantastic season two divisions above Abby in the Premier League. Abby started with a 15 point advantage, needing to win 26 points for victory. The first 4 ends were shared with none of those ends being particularly close. As with many handicap matches, both teams gave their players the all important advice to get off to a good start in the decider. Charlie seemed to come out of the blocks more offensive minded and he overcame the 15 point lead before Abby reached 20 points. There was no way back for Abby as Charlie proved too strong and gave Murrayfield a 2-0 lead.
The Penicuik trio knew that match 3 then took on even greater significance as Greig took on Keith Dingwall - the scorers were not troubled (no surprise why James decided to umpire this one) as both players were playing off the same handicap - a straightforward fight to 11 points. When Greig lost the first two ends it looked like Keith was in control, however back came Greig with wins in ends 3 and 4 to level the game at 2-2 and another deciding end was required. In what was a fairly nervous affair it appeared that he who attacked first generally lost the point (none of this 3rd ball attack for this pair!). Greig, dreaming he had a forehand loop like Calum crumbled under the pressure first as he couldn't help himself from attacking (invariably after the 14th high push from Keith) and the result was that Murrayfield scraped over the line 11-8 in the deciding end for a 3-0 lead which always looked like being too much to peg back.
The first three matches of the night were to prove crucial to the outcome of the semi-final. In match 1, Iain faced Murrayfield’s number 1 player, Calum Morrison who had already had a remarkable season by remaining undefeated throughout his Premier League campaign (57 wins and no defeats). The handicap system gave Iain a 10 point start to 21. Although he lost the first game, Iain hit back with a 21-19 win in game 2. The consistency of the Murrayfield star, however, proved too much for Iain in the next two games as he was pipped to the post 21-18 and 21-19 giving Murrayfield the perfect start.
Match 2 then saw Abby take on Charlie Ellis, a player, who like his teammate, had enjoyed a fantastic season two divisions above Abby in the Premier League. Abby started with a 15 point advantage, needing to win 26 points for victory. The first 4 ends were shared with none of those ends being particularly close. As with many handicap matches, both teams gave their players the all important advice to get off to a good start in the decider. Charlie seemed to come out of the blocks more offensive minded and he overcame the 15 point lead before Abby reached 20 points. There was no way back for Abby as Charlie proved too strong and gave Murrayfield a 2-0 lead.
The Penicuik trio knew that match 3 then took on even greater significance as Greig took on Keith Dingwall - the scorers were not troubled (no surprise why James decided to umpire this one) as both players were playing off the same handicap - a straightforward fight to 11 points. When Greig lost the first two ends it looked like Keith was in control, however back came Greig with wins in ends 3 and 4 to level the game at 2-2 and another deciding end was required. In what was a fairly nervous affair it appeared that he who attacked first generally lost the point (none of this 3rd ball attack for this pair!). Greig, dreaming he had a forehand loop like Calum crumbled under the pressure first as he couldn't help himself from attacking (invariably after the 14th high push from Keith) and the result was that Murrayfield scraped over the line 11-8 in the deciding end for a 3-0 lead which always looked like being too much to peg back.
Abby's match against Calum was probably the match of the night with some great rallies and Abby was unlucky to lose in 4 ends, the crucial game being end 3 which she lost 29-27. Iain then at least ensured the Penicuik trio could get back home at a reasonable time as for the first ocassion on the night a match was decided in 3 straight ends with Keith emerging victorious. And thus the defence of the Cup came to a valiant end. The 5-0 scoreline doesn't really do justice to the tightness of the match but on the night Murrayfield were deserved winners and it's difficult to see them losing in the final against Fife.
Away from the Cup there was still some league action as Penicuik 4 faced Edinburgh International 6 in Division 3. The good form of recent weeks continued as Krzysztof Laszkiewicz won all three of his singles matches and combined for a win in the doubles with Gregory Leplatre who won 2 singles. Captain Phil Daly added a singles win in the resultant 7-3 victory at Ladywood. The 4th Team still have one outstanding fixture to play and barring a bad defeat in that match they look like finishing in 3rd place in the Division
Away from the Cup there was still some league action as Penicuik 4 faced Edinburgh International 6 in Division 3. The good form of recent weeks continued as Krzysztof Laszkiewicz won all three of his singles matches and combined for a win in the doubles with Gregory Leplatre who won 2 singles. Captain Phil Daly added a singles win in the resultant 7-3 victory at Ladywood. The 4th Team still have one outstanding fixture to play and barring a bad defeat in that match they look like finishing in 3rd place in the Division
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