And so with the League season over for the Club, the last piece of competitive action took place last Wednesday in the Handicap Cup. Jay Jayalath (+3), John Bald (+7) and Charlie Brindley (Scr) faced a strong Murrayfield side of Gordon Muir (-13), Max Well (-1) and Marcin Well (+4).
Charlie was first up against Max with a 1 point start in a race to 12. Charlie’s funny rubber nullified Max’s funny stuff as the hosts got off to a perfect start. Match 2 saw Jay take on Gordon – a 16-0 start in a race to 24 and when Jay won the first two ends 24-18, 24-20, it looked like he was going to stroll to victory – 24-19, 24-21 in the next two ends to Gordon, however, and the match was in the balance – the Handicaps proved to be pretty well judged as the decider went the distance – 24-22 for the victorious Gordon! A 3 point start in a race to 11 was not enough for John v Marcin and when Jay’s 4 point start against Max was wiped out, suddenly the hosts trailed 3-1. Charlie v Marcin was a must win for the hosts – Marcin had a 4 point advantage in a straight fight to 11 and although Charlie made it difficult he lost 11-9 and 12-10 in the first two ends – an 11-9 win in the third gave him some hope but he never got going in the fourth as he lost out in four ends – 4-1 down and on the brink of defeat for the home side. John v Gordon was match 6 and saw the biggest points difference on the night – John had a 20 point start in a race to 24. Such Handicaps exist to recognise the huge gulf between top Premier players and those who ply their trade in the lowest divisions. A combination of unreturnable serves, spin that John isn’t used to and a huge amount of consistency saw Gordon over the line in three straight sets. And with that Penicuik’s 2024/25 Handicap Cup exploits came to an end.
Player of the Week
Well – what can we say? Only 1 win to show between the three players who took to the table in competitive action this week, so we need to cast our net further afield. We ran an impromptu Easter Tournament at the Club last weekend with 12 seniors split into 2 groups of 6, the first three from each group progressing to the knockout stage. Whilst we don’t care who won it (well done to our Club President), the surprise of the day came from a player who is very new to the Club - his improvement on Saturday mornings has been pleasing to see and that was shown by some terrific play in the tournament. Wins against Michael and John were good but his win against Division 3’s Patrick was an amazing result. Add to that the fact that he only just lost out to Patrick’s teammate, Chamika and this player had a terrific morning – well done to Ugo, our Week 27 Player of the Week.
Junior Tournament
Hannah also ran a Junior Tournament on a handicapped basis – 8 players in two groups. Michael progressed from his group and won a tight semi-final. The other semi saw Josh take on Etienne in a cracking match. Josh somehow got over the line 10-12, 11-9, 16-14, 9-11, 13-11. What a game. He took confidence into the final against Michael, winning in four ends – well done to him.
Controversy of the Week
Let’s look to see whether our potential controversy from last week came to fruition? We indicated that if Haddington didn't survive in the Premier Division, they would be irritated by the decision of Ed Int 1’s team captain who dropped himself for his side's match against Murrayfield 3 resulting in a surprising 6-4 win for Murrayfield. Would Haddington have to face the man with an 85% average in Week 27 – you bet they did! He’s definitely off Haddington’s Xmas card list. And he won his three! In the end of the day though, whether he played or not wouldn’t have changed things – Haddington lost out in the final few weeks of the season to the two teams struggling at the bottom end of the table, Murrayfield 3 and University 1. A disastrous 2nd half of the season saw our East Lothian friends only pick up 3 points out of a possible 20 and that, somewhat unbelievably, has resulted in them falling out of the division.
As for the Handicap Cup match – there’s no point saying anymore on the reason that was played so late in the season – the Committee decided it should be played if at all possible – we could have been very awkward and not been able to find a team to play on any of the dates on offer, but we’re better than that – we don’t want to win by default, just like if we had been in Murrayfield’s position, unable to field a team, we would have just taken it on the chin and conceded the match. We do wonder if the shoe had been on the other foot, whether the committee would have been so keen to get involved! But in the end the better team won and that’s what it’s all about. Good luck to them in the semi-final.
And so, for us, season 24/25 comes to a close – but not for our reports! We’ll be back with our season round-up and player of the year awards shortly!
Charlie was first up against Max with a 1 point start in a race to 12. Charlie’s funny rubber nullified Max’s funny stuff as the hosts got off to a perfect start. Match 2 saw Jay take on Gordon – a 16-0 start in a race to 24 and when Jay won the first two ends 24-18, 24-20, it looked like he was going to stroll to victory – 24-19, 24-21 in the next two ends to Gordon, however, and the match was in the balance – the Handicaps proved to be pretty well judged as the decider went the distance – 24-22 for the victorious Gordon! A 3 point start in a race to 11 was not enough for John v Marcin and when Jay’s 4 point start against Max was wiped out, suddenly the hosts trailed 3-1. Charlie v Marcin was a must win for the hosts – Marcin had a 4 point advantage in a straight fight to 11 and although Charlie made it difficult he lost 11-9 and 12-10 in the first two ends – an 11-9 win in the third gave him some hope but he never got going in the fourth as he lost out in four ends – 4-1 down and on the brink of defeat for the home side. John v Gordon was match 6 and saw the biggest points difference on the night – John had a 20 point start in a race to 24. Such Handicaps exist to recognise the huge gulf between top Premier players and those who ply their trade in the lowest divisions. A combination of unreturnable serves, spin that John isn’t used to and a huge amount of consistency saw Gordon over the line in three straight sets. And with that Penicuik’s 2024/25 Handicap Cup exploits came to an end.
Player of the Week
Well – what can we say? Only 1 win to show between the three players who took to the table in competitive action this week, so we need to cast our net further afield. We ran an impromptu Easter Tournament at the Club last weekend with 12 seniors split into 2 groups of 6, the first three from each group progressing to the knockout stage. Whilst we don’t care who won it (well done to our Club President), the surprise of the day came from a player who is very new to the Club - his improvement on Saturday mornings has been pleasing to see and that was shown by some terrific play in the tournament. Wins against Michael and John were good but his win against Division 3’s Patrick was an amazing result. Add to that the fact that he only just lost out to Patrick’s teammate, Chamika and this player had a terrific morning – well done to Ugo, our Week 27 Player of the Week.
Junior Tournament
Hannah also ran a Junior Tournament on a handicapped basis – 8 players in two groups. Michael progressed from his group and won a tight semi-final. The other semi saw Josh take on Etienne in a cracking match. Josh somehow got over the line 10-12, 11-9, 16-14, 9-11, 13-11. What a game. He took confidence into the final against Michael, winning in four ends – well done to him.
Controversy of the Week
Let’s look to see whether our potential controversy from last week came to fruition? We indicated that if Haddington didn't survive in the Premier Division, they would be irritated by the decision of Ed Int 1’s team captain who dropped himself for his side's match against Murrayfield 3 resulting in a surprising 6-4 win for Murrayfield. Would Haddington have to face the man with an 85% average in Week 27 – you bet they did! He’s definitely off Haddington’s Xmas card list. And he won his three! In the end of the day though, whether he played or not wouldn’t have changed things – Haddington lost out in the final few weeks of the season to the two teams struggling at the bottom end of the table, Murrayfield 3 and University 1. A disastrous 2nd half of the season saw our East Lothian friends only pick up 3 points out of a possible 20 and that, somewhat unbelievably, has resulted in them falling out of the division.
As for the Handicap Cup match – there’s no point saying anymore on the reason that was played so late in the season – the Committee decided it should be played if at all possible – we could have been very awkward and not been able to find a team to play on any of the dates on offer, but we’re better than that – we don’t want to win by default, just like if we had been in Murrayfield’s position, unable to field a team, we would have just taken it on the chin and conceded the match. We do wonder if the shoe had been on the other foot, whether the committee would have been so keen to get involved! But in the end the better team won and that’s what it’s all about. Good luck to them in the semi-final.
And so, for us, season 24/25 comes to a close – but not for our reports! We’ll be back with our season round-up and player of the year awards shortly!
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