Week 8 once again saw four of our five teams in League action, starting with Team 2s visit to North Merchiston on Monday 4th November.
Team 2 have had a terrific start to their division 2 campaign but with Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Hannah McDonell and Ian Hislop all unavailable, James Wighton and Gary McDougal had to call upon help from Bob Porteous from Team 3 as they travelled to Edinburgh. Bob was first up against Julia Domagala and after losing the first two ends 11-3, 11-6 Bob was in big trouble. He somehow managed to turn the match around for a fifth end win but the scores were quickly levelled following a loss for James. When that was followed by a fifth end win for Nick Adams against Gary and a three-end loss for Bob against Fares Carbrera, Team 2s undefeated start to the season was in danger. Match 5 saw a good 4 end win for Gary to reduce the deficit to 3-2 before James took on Nick in Match 6 – this turned out to be the closest match of the night – James took a 2-0 lead 11-5, 12-10 but then lost both ends 3 and 4 by a 12-10 scoreline. The decider also went the distance but it was James who just got over the line 11-9 for a crucial win. 3-3 going into the doubles. As reported last week, the doubles have been a horror story for Team 2 so far this season. Six matches played six doubles lost – make that SEVEN! At some point Team 2’s failure to win the doubles is going to have an impact on the match score – maybe this was the night it was going to prove crucial. Fares, undefeated on the night started as favourite against Gary in match 8 – Gary had other ideas and he kept the visitors in it with a 3-0 win. Bob then secured a point for Team 2 with a 3-1 victory v Nick and it was left to James to complete a brilliant comeback as he defeated Julia – from 3-1 and 4-3 down a 6-4 victory for Team 2 was a terrific result, all three players winning two.
Thursday 7th November saw teams 1, 3 and 5 in action at Ladywood. Greig McDonell, Colin Green and Peter Aird took on defending Premier League champions Murrayfield 1 in the Premier Division. A slightly understrength Murrayfield 1 took to the table but they were still too good for the hosts. All three players defeated William Wang but that was as good as it got for Team 1. There were chances for Peter in his match v Charlie McGowan but at 6-6 in the fifth, Charlie rolled off 5 consecutive points for the win. Colin was also unlucky as he lost out in five to the stylish John Hannah. Had they gone the way of the hosts then maybe a point was a possibility? But they didn’t and a 7-3 defeat ensued.
Team 3 took on Edinburgh University 4 in the knowledge that they needed to keep winning to keep pace with Penicuik 2. Charlie Brindley, Kristian Skotzen and Craig Linton turned out this week for Team 3 and three more awkward players are unlikely to be found in the division! Long pips, short pips and anti-loop all on show! When Charlie lost out to Enrique Calisto in the first match of the night it looked like Team 3 were going to be in for a real challenge. From there, however, Team 3 showed how hard they are to beat as they ran off 9 victories in a row for an impressive 9-1 win.
Finally in Week 8, Team 5 took on Heriot Watt University 2. Sian McDonald, Mat Dyluk and Roscoe Cairney were in action for the hosts. After the first two matches, the hosts were 2-0 down, but with Sian scraping through match 3 with an 11-5 win in the fifth, and Roscoe then winning the next match in 4 ends, the hosts were back in the game. But unfortunately for the Penicuik trio, the visitors won the next 6 games for an 8-2 win. In fairness, Sian’s other 2 games went to fifth end deciders, and 2 of 3 of Mat’s games went to 4 ends – the 8-2 score line doesn’t really reflect how close the game was.
And so, to our Player of the Week Award. Team 3 had a terrific night at Ladywood with both Kristian and Craig undefeated and combining in the doubles for a victory. There were a number of players who won two out of three and crucially all of Team 2 won 2 in a 6-4 victory – Team 2 were indebted again to Team 3 for keeping them top of the table – Bob this time contributing 2 to the victory. A special mention this week also for Mat from Team 5 – although Mat didn’t win any of his three matches, he played some lovely table tennis and hit some gorgeous and stylish forehands. Great to see such improvement. But this week there can only be one winner. This week sums her up perfectly – 3 matches played and every one of them went to five ends – so what if she only won 1 of them – she competes hard in every match. The award this week is a special one recognising this player’s contribution to the Club over the last few years. She joined the Club in 2021 and first played in the league in the 2022-23 season. That year she had an average of just under 30%. She has always worked hard in training and is one of the “Saturday morning regulars” who puts 100% effort into everything she’s asked to do. Her improvement is clear for everyone to see. In season 2023/24 her average jumped to 66%. This weekend saw her attend her last session at the Club before she moves to pastures new – we ran a competition in her name (James and Greig still can’t say it properly apparently). Well done to Sian. Not only will Team 5 miss her TT abilities, but the Club as a whole and the coaches in particular will miss her terrific attitude and we will all miss her great humour and personality. We wish Sian all the very best for the future and if she gets fed up with the hectic lifestyle of London, she’s welcome back to Penicuik any time.
As for controversies this week, the saga of postponements continued from last week. After Team 4 had no problem in agreeing to a postponement request from our friends from West Lothian, despite WL refusing James’ team a postponement the previous week, this week saw the same team who had refused the postponement seeking a postponement from our Team 3. It appears that WL have an issue later this month / early December because their venue is not available. It was pointed out that the reason behind the request was for very different reasons than the request from our Team 2 to WL and the resultant refusal to agree to a postponement. Our Team 3 captain, Craig, is a much nicer guy than some of our other team captains! There would be no issue with him agreeing, would there? The point of course is that the reason for a postponement request is not the only consideration to take into account. Rescheduling arrangements are more important to ensure that the team who agree to a postponement are not prejudiced by agreeing to a postponement. Whether a month’s notice is given or 2 days’ notice is given makes no difference in our view – and as we said previously, it makes a huge difference whether the match is a home one or an away fixture due to the difficulty with getting our venue on days other than the match days already scheduled. As for this request, of course Craig agreed to a postponement – he did it within about half an hour of the request being made – he really is a nice guy! So 2 postponement requests agreed to by us from WL and one from us to WL refused – as per our report last week, hopefully no issue when we come knocking later in the season for a postponement.
In another week when we struggled to get full teams out, here’s an interesting one – Team 1 played Murrayfield 1 last Thursday, 7th November. Interestingly, Murrayfield 1 also played Edinburgh University last Thursday – at exactly the same time as they were in action at Ladywood, they were in action at their home venue! What? There’s a rule that no one player can play for two different teams on the same night but nothing in the rules about a team playing two matches simultaneously! It’s probably never been thought of as an issue. Wow – talk about an embarrassment of riches! At Ladywood two regulars were joined by William Wang whilst at Murrayfield another two regulars were joined by Angus Halliday, both youngsters registered for Murrayfield 2 in the Premier Division. Talk about confidence – even with the two youngsters playing up losing all 6 of their combined singles games, the two Murrayfield 1 teams still produced victories against their opponents! Maybe if Edinburgh Uni and ourselves are struggling towards the end of the season, we can try and appeal against these results if we can somehow argue that the same team playing 2 matches on the same night is forbidden - if only!! Some might argue that rather than confidence this was arrogance on the part of the Defending Premier League champions. Not us – we are just envious that a Club can have so many players to choose from, and quality players at that!
Finally, we end on a sombre note – we were really saddened to hear at the end of last week of the passing of Slawomir Bess, a terrific guy who played his table tennis at North Merchiston. Slav was a fierce competitor on the table and a lovely guy off the table – he will be sadly missed by those of us who knew him well. We send our condolences to Slav’s family and friends at this difficult time.
Team 2 have had a terrific start to their division 2 campaign but with Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, Hannah McDonell and Ian Hislop all unavailable, James Wighton and Gary McDougal had to call upon help from Bob Porteous from Team 3 as they travelled to Edinburgh. Bob was first up against Julia Domagala and after losing the first two ends 11-3, 11-6 Bob was in big trouble. He somehow managed to turn the match around for a fifth end win but the scores were quickly levelled following a loss for James. When that was followed by a fifth end win for Nick Adams against Gary and a three-end loss for Bob against Fares Carbrera, Team 2s undefeated start to the season was in danger. Match 5 saw a good 4 end win for Gary to reduce the deficit to 3-2 before James took on Nick in Match 6 – this turned out to be the closest match of the night – James took a 2-0 lead 11-5, 12-10 but then lost both ends 3 and 4 by a 12-10 scoreline. The decider also went the distance but it was James who just got over the line 11-9 for a crucial win. 3-3 going into the doubles. As reported last week, the doubles have been a horror story for Team 2 so far this season. Six matches played six doubles lost – make that SEVEN! At some point Team 2’s failure to win the doubles is going to have an impact on the match score – maybe this was the night it was going to prove crucial. Fares, undefeated on the night started as favourite against Gary in match 8 – Gary had other ideas and he kept the visitors in it with a 3-0 win. Bob then secured a point for Team 2 with a 3-1 victory v Nick and it was left to James to complete a brilliant comeback as he defeated Julia – from 3-1 and 4-3 down a 6-4 victory for Team 2 was a terrific result, all three players winning two.
Thursday 7th November saw teams 1, 3 and 5 in action at Ladywood. Greig McDonell, Colin Green and Peter Aird took on defending Premier League champions Murrayfield 1 in the Premier Division. A slightly understrength Murrayfield 1 took to the table but they were still too good for the hosts. All three players defeated William Wang but that was as good as it got for Team 1. There were chances for Peter in his match v Charlie McGowan but at 6-6 in the fifth, Charlie rolled off 5 consecutive points for the win. Colin was also unlucky as he lost out in five to the stylish John Hannah. Had they gone the way of the hosts then maybe a point was a possibility? But they didn’t and a 7-3 defeat ensued.
Team 3 took on Edinburgh University 4 in the knowledge that they needed to keep winning to keep pace with Penicuik 2. Charlie Brindley, Kristian Skotzen and Craig Linton turned out this week for Team 3 and three more awkward players are unlikely to be found in the division! Long pips, short pips and anti-loop all on show! When Charlie lost out to Enrique Calisto in the first match of the night it looked like Team 3 were going to be in for a real challenge. From there, however, Team 3 showed how hard they are to beat as they ran off 9 victories in a row for an impressive 9-1 win.
Finally in Week 8, Team 5 took on Heriot Watt University 2. Sian McDonald, Mat Dyluk and Roscoe Cairney were in action for the hosts. After the first two matches, the hosts were 2-0 down, but with Sian scraping through match 3 with an 11-5 win in the fifth, and Roscoe then winning the next match in 4 ends, the hosts were back in the game. But unfortunately for the Penicuik trio, the visitors won the next 6 games for an 8-2 win. In fairness, Sian’s other 2 games went to fifth end deciders, and 2 of 3 of Mat’s games went to 4 ends – the 8-2 score line doesn’t really reflect how close the game was.
And so, to our Player of the Week Award. Team 3 had a terrific night at Ladywood with both Kristian and Craig undefeated and combining in the doubles for a victory. There were a number of players who won two out of three and crucially all of Team 2 won 2 in a 6-4 victory – Team 2 were indebted again to Team 3 for keeping them top of the table – Bob this time contributing 2 to the victory. A special mention this week also for Mat from Team 5 – although Mat didn’t win any of his three matches, he played some lovely table tennis and hit some gorgeous and stylish forehands. Great to see such improvement. But this week there can only be one winner. This week sums her up perfectly – 3 matches played and every one of them went to five ends – so what if she only won 1 of them – she competes hard in every match. The award this week is a special one recognising this player’s contribution to the Club over the last few years. She joined the Club in 2021 and first played in the league in the 2022-23 season. That year she had an average of just under 30%. She has always worked hard in training and is one of the “Saturday morning regulars” who puts 100% effort into everything she’s asked to do. Her improvement is clear for everyone to see. In season 2023/24 her average jumped to 66%. This weekend saw her attend her last session at the Club before she moves to pastures new – we ran a competition in her name (James and Greig still can’t say it properly apparently). Well done to Sian. Not only will Team 5 miss her TT abilities, but the Club as a whole and the coaches in particular will miss her terrific attitude and we will all miss her great humour and personality. We wish Sian all the very best for the future and if she gets fed up with the hectic lifestyle of London, she’s welcome back to Penicuik any time.
As for controversies this week, the saga of postponements continued from last week. After Team 4 had no problem in agreeing to a postponement request from our friends from West Lothian, despite WL refusing James’ team a postponement the previous week, this week saw the same team who had refused the postponement seeking a postponement from our Team 3. It appears that WL have an issue later this month / early December because their venue is not available. It was pointed out that the reason behind the request was for very different reasons than the request from our Team 2 to WL and the resultant refusal to agree to a postponement. Our Team 3 captain, Craig, is a much nicer guy than some of our other team captains! There would be no issue with him agreeing, would there? The point of course is that the reason for a postponement request is not the only consideration to take into account. Rescheduling arrangements are more important to ensure that the team who agree to a postponement are not prejudiced by agreeing to a postponement. Whether a month’s notice is given or 2 days’ notice is given makes no difference in our view – and as we said previously, it makes a huge difference whether the match is a home one or an away fixture due to the difficulty with getting our venue on days other than the match days already scheduled. As for this request, of course Craig agreed to a postponement – he did it within about half an hour of the request being made – he really is a nice guy! So 2 postponement requests agreed to by us from WL and one from us to WL refused – as per our report last week, hopefully no issue when we come knocking later in the season for a postponement.
In another week when we struggled to get full teams out, here’s an interesting one – Team 1 played Murrayfield 1 last Thursday, 7th November. Interestingly, Murrayfield 1 also played Edinburgh University last Thursday – at exactly the same time as they were in action at Ladywood, they were in action at their home venue! What? There’s a rule that no one player can play for two different teams on the same night but nothing in the rules about a team playing two matches simultaneously! It’s probably never been thought of as an issue. Wow – talk about an embarrassment of riches! At Ladywood two regulars were joined by William Wang whilst at Murrayfield another two regulars were joined by Angus Halliday, both youngsters registered for Murrayfield 2 in the Premier Division. Talk about confidence – even with the two youngsters playing up losing all 6 of their combined singles games, the two Murrayfield 1 teams still produced victories against their opponents! Maybe if Edinburgh Uni and ourselves are struggling towards the end of the season, we can try and appeal against these results if we can somehow argue that the same team playing 2 matches on the same night is forbidden - if only!! Some might argue that rather than confidence this was arrogance on the part of the Defending Premier League champions. Not us – we are just envious that a Club can have so many players to choose from, and quality players at that!
Finally, we end on a sombre note – we were really saddened to hear at the end of last week of the passing of Slawomir Bess, a terrific guy who played his table tennis at North Merchiston. Slav was a fierce competitor on the table and a lovely guy off the table – he will be sadly missed by those of us who knew him well. We send our condolences to Slav’s family and friends at this difficult time.
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