Abercorn Sports Club, Willowbrae, have extended their portfolio of competitive activities by adding table tennis to the regular diet of tennis and squash.
And the three players nominated to carry the flag into Division Five of the Edinburgh and Lothians League – Toryn Whitehead, John Sinclair and Zuzanna Chamielec – responded with the best win of the opening week in beating Penicuik V 9-1 to sit top of the table.
The decision to embrace a competitive structure for the first time lay mainly with John Sinclair, who said:
“Table tennis at the Abercorn has been very popular for some time and we decided to put a team in the league’s bottom section along with the lower order from well known names such as Murrayfield, Edinburgh International, West Lothian and Haddington.
“We had no idea how we would measure up against our 11 rivals overall but to our very pleasant surprise we won with Toryn and Zuzanna both unbeaten on the night.
“I have personally been playing socially for years but it came as a shock to be told that the rules had changed since my last competitive match.
“It’s now two serves each player and first to 11 instead of five serves and first to 21.
“It is never too late to teach an old dog new tricks and as a further boost it was great to find league table tennis being played in great spirits with ages varying greatly.”
The Abercorn debut success was hailed by club president Chloe Madeley who told members: “A fantastic result and a brilliant start to what we hope will be the first of many seasons for the club.
“A huge well done to our history-makers. The first chapter of Abercorn’s table tennis history has been written.”
In a historic match Abercorn, pictured on the right, beat Penicuik V to introduce themselves to the Edinburgh and Lothians table tennis league, division 5.
