WEST LOTHIAN TABLE TENNIS CLUB

Handicap Cup Final Season 2008/9

By late June most players had started thinking about summer holidays but for four players the handicap cup final loomed large on the horizon. So it was that the team of Benny Flockhart and Frank Kane found themselves bringing the curtain down on a long gruelling season in their Handicap Cup final against Kevin Milne and George Anderson.

The idea behind this competition is to try to equalise the competition by applying handicaps to each player. The better players find themselves off a minus score and the beginner with a plus score. In this final all the participants were in a similar range with Anderson finding himself on scratch while all three others were rated –2. By the end of the cup final the Match Secretary could pat himself on the back as two games went to the fifth and deciding end, two others were won in the fourth and only one had a straight sets victory.

The standards might have been very similar but the respective playing styles were entirely different. Kane is considered an enigma by his team mates as he is capable of beating any one on his day but, win or lose, will play a fiercely modern attacking game winning points with some of the most sublime powerful forehand hitting imaginable, but peppered with unforced errors. Flockhart, on the other hand, is much more cagey, expecting his opponent to force the pace but can hit some beautiful backhand winners against an unexpecting opponent.

Against them was the talented Milne who, while able to play an all round attacking game, often prefers to let his opponent take the initiative and only counter attack. While finding himself the lowest ranked player on parade, Anderson can boast the best backhand attack in the club. Put the ball to his backhand and you get what you deserve.

First to the table were the two more attack minded players Kane and Milne. Kane won the first end with ease before Milne returned the compliment. Then the game came to life as both players fought tooth and nail as the next three sets were each won with the narrowest of margins. Milne eventually won 6-11, 11-5,11-9,9-11,14-12 in a nail biting finish to give his side an early advantage.

Next Flockhart took on Anderson and, again, the first three sets could have gone either way before Anderson took an early lead in the fourth set and eased gradually himself to victory. The winning score line was 13-11, 14-12, 11-13, 13-6. Both these games may have been tight but the Milne Anderson partnership found themselves two games up and needing only one more win whereas the Kane Flockhart duo had to win all the remaining games.

With the pressure on, Kane then played the first of the reverse fixtures against Anderson. This encounter proved to be a hitting competition between Kane’s left handed forehand and Anderson’ right handed backhand and both were on fire. Of all the games played this was the only one to be won in straight sets but with a winning score line in favour of Kane of 14-12, 14-12,14-12 the contest could hardly have been closer and still very much alive.

At 1-3 down Flockhart had a must win game against Milne to keep the match alive but the omens were not good when he lost the first set. However, he rallied to take a tight second set at deuce before losing the third set but again fought back to even the game at two sets all. This, though, proved to be the last roll of the dice as Milne took the deciding set with a little to spare. The final score was 5-11,12-10,4-11,11-7,7-11 in favour of Milne.

With an unbeatable lead of 3-1 there was no need to complete the tie with the doubles but to their credit both sides decided to complete the scorecard. This, however, proved to be an anti climax when Milne and Anderson added to their tally by winning 12-5,8-12,12-7,12-3 to make the final score 4-1 in their favour. .

In the final analysis Milne and Anderson proved to be a powerful combination and were worthy winners.