WEST LOTHIAN CLOSED TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Season 2007/8

Role of Honour	Winner(s)	Runner(s) Up
Singles	John McCulloch	Andy MacDougall
Juniors	Daniel MacKay	Kieran Boyle
Ballot Doubles	L Hills/G Anderson	Andy MacDougall/B Rooney
Consolation Singles	Martin Rumsey	George Anderson

After a long absence the West Lothian Table Tennis Club decided to re-institute the West Lothian Closed Championships so the cream of West Lothian table tennis talent arrived at Bathgate Academy Sports Hall on Sunday 25^th May to compete for the various titles.

The Senior singles event was played in groups with a seed allocated to each group, as most national tournaments are run nowadays. Qualifiers would then proceed to the knock out stages and non-qualifiers would also go forward to compete in a separate consolation event. This process allowed all entrants the opportunity of a full day of competition and enjoyment.

In the first quarter final of the senior event John McCulloch met Drew McLaren. McCulloch may well have been expected to win but even he must have been surprised at the ease of his victory in a 11-5,11-6,11-2 win. In the second of the quarters Barry Hills put all of his vast experience to good use in beating an excellent all round player in Keith Mackay. The third quarter final brought Kevin Milne against Jonathan Maisey, who had both done well to reach the latter stages. Milne had only re-joined the club at the start of the season while Maisey had not been able to play as much as he would have liked because of studies. In the event Milne proved just too strong.

In the last of the quarter final games two of the pre tournament favourites in Andy MacDougall and Lewis (son of Barry) Hills were brought together. A tense and titanic struggle of powerful hitting then ensued which saw MacDougall win in four sets. That, however, does not give the full picture as MacDougall only won the first of these four sets 19-17 in an encounter which could easily have gone either way.

So, to the semi finals where the first of these provided the game of the tournament. In it former Scotland ranked, Glasgow Youth Champion and Renfrewshire Champion John McCulloch took on Barry Hills presently Scotland ranked at number three at the over 60 age group in a battle of which both veterans can be proud. This contest proved a complete contrast in styles as McCulloch’s heavy topspin only gradually broke down Hills’ dogged defence in five gruelling sets. McCulloch eventually won the tie at 8-11,11-7,8-11,11-8,11-7 with the fourth set being on a knife edge until the final points.

The second semi final brought Kevin Milne and Andy MacDougall, Deer Park club mates, face to face. Milne must have been reasonably confident in taking on the higher ranked MacDougall, as he had won their previous encounter, but MacDougall proved too strong on this occasion and won in straight sets at 11-9,11-9,11-3. Had either of the first two sets gone the other way the result may have been different. Such is Milne’s improvement over the season that his day will surely come.

In many respects the final was an anti climax as McCulloch again ground out a victory, this time in three straight sets. His tight serving and heavy topspin kept MacDougall on the defensive throughout although MacDougall did win many of the more entertaining points with his powerful counter hitting. The final result was a 11-7,11-3,11-9 win for McCulloch and with this win came the title.

In the final of the Juniors, former Scotland ranked at under 13 and St David’s pupil Daniel MacKay (son of Keith) met the up and coming St Mary’s primary pupil Keiran Boyle. To reach the final Daniel had disposed of Bathgate Academy student Duncan Ewing who had beaten him earlier in the day in the Senior event. Although young Keiran put in his usual effervescent display the title went to the more mature Daniel in a very entertaining match.

As a matter of policy it was decided to make the Doubles competition more of a fun event by trying to match players according to ability in order to spread the titles and make the eventual winners more of an uncertainty. By way of example, the winner of the main title John McCulloch was paired with the day’s youngest competitor, Rachel Milne (daughter of Kevin). Although this partnership lost in the first round to the eventual winners, young Rachel is convinced her partner let her down badly and who can argue.

The eventual winners were Lewis Hills and George Anderson who beat Andy MacDougall and Brian Rooney in three straight sets. In winning a second runners-up medal MacDougall did prove to be the day’s best bridesmaid.

As a spectacle the final of the Consolation event between Martin Rumsey and George Anderson proved as good as most games on the day. One of the competitors gave the competition the title of the Numpties Shield and although this did provide a certain amount of amusement on the day this event did prove to be as competitive and hard fought as the others. In terms of club ranking Anderson was the higher placed of the two but Rumsey has more often than not come out best in their previous meetings.

With the support of his watching wife, daughter and granddaughter fully behind him Rumsey gave his usual energetic display and once again foiled Anderson whose legendary backhand hitting was not enough on the day. Like Kevin Milne, Rumsey only returned to the sport this season and these two are proving very useful additions to the club.

The day closed with chairman Drew McLaren hailing the event as a complete success, and one that will feature in future seasons. He then complimented the participants, especially the juniors, on their standard of play and sportsmanship. Also, he expressed his personal pleasure that the prizes were going to a good spread of players. Thereafter, he and previous chairman Davie Dall presented the various trophies to their respective winners.