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.
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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