Welcome to St Andrews Table Tennis Club

St Andrews Table Tennis Club provides playing opportunity for all ages and levels. Monday coaching sessions for youngsters take place at 5.15pm-6.30pm in the Victory Memorial Hall, Market Street, St Andrews (between September and March). Coaches are UKCC qualified and hold the disclosures required for working with children. Youngsters or parents should use the “Contact Us” page to ask for more information, or to express an interest in coming along.

Informal adult beginner/returner sessions led by Elaine Forbes are held on Thursdays in the gym at Madras College, Kilrymont Road (not the South Street building), from 6pm to 8pm during school term. Anyone is welcome to join and we invite you to click the contact page with an enquiry. The price is currently £4 for each session to be paid in the gym hall (and not at the school front desk).

The club has five teams competing in the Dundee and District League between September and March.  For season 2017/18, these are (in rank order):

Division 1: Prefects (Michael, Justin, Bonifac, Clyde)
Division 2: Truants (Graham, Knut, Alain, Sascha)
Division 2: New Kids (Kong, Ian S, Howard)
Division 2: Swots (Emma, Collin, Dave B, Peter, Nick)
Division 3: Prospects (Emily, Dave G, Neil, Sandy, Fabio, Jonathan, Ian B, Chris, Ken)

Some action from our competitive matches can be viewed on the club’s YouTube channel

End of season league report
Prefects, 6th in Division 1
Truants, 4th in Division 2
New Kids, 8th in Division 2
Swots, 9th in Division 2
Prospects, 8th in Division 3

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Michael Hahn wins hardbat tournament

The competitors in the 2018 Legacy Shield (Dave Beveridge missing, presumed taking the photo)

On Monday, St Andrews Table Tennis Club hosted their third annual ‘hardbat’ tournament, using sandpaper bats and adopting the style and format used by the World Championships of Ping Pong. Top seed Michael Hahn was victorious, but did not have everything his own way, losing his first group game to Chris Wroniecki 21-12, before recovered to beat both Alain Leger and John Carlton to 12 and 14, respectively. John beat Chris to give a three-way-tie between Michael, Chris, and John for first place, with Chris taking this countback. In group 2, last year’s winner, Graham Wood and Collin Bleak both beat Neil Lea comfortably, while Graham came back from 19-17 down to edge out Collin 21-19 to take top spot. In group 3, Howard Lee won all of his games, although struggled against Nick Shepherd and Emma Bissett, winning 21-19 and 21-18, respectively. Nick won his other games while Dave Beveridge beat Emma to go through as third. The bottom players from each group, Neil, Alain, and Emma played off in a round robin group, with Alain winning with 21-19 and 21-12 victories against Emma and Neil, respectively, while Emma beat Neil 21-20.

The other players entered the quarter finals. Chris and Michael beat Nick and Collin fairly comfortably in their respective games, while Howard won a close contest against John 21-19 and Dave came through against last year’s champion, Graham in an even closer 21-20 game. The losing quarter-finalists, Nick, Graham, John, and Collin played off for positions five to eight with everyone winning at least one game, and Nick taking 5th place overall with two wins from three.

Michael Hahn (left) receives the Legacy Shield from Howard Lee

Chris beat Dave 21-16 and Michael beat Howard 21-17 in the semi-finals to set up a repeat of the first game of the night in the final. Dave beat Howard to take third place. Michael started well in the final to gain a small advantage by the half-way stage, and maintained that lead for the rest of the game to gain revenge and win the final 21-18. Chris should be commended for his good play throughout the night, especially as he only joined the club this year. Thanks go to Howard Lee and Elaine Forbes for running the event.

Last week, Swots finished their season in slightly disappointing fashion, losing to Division One team Rockets in the final of the Handicap Cup, however should be proud of their performances to take them that far. Playing each game in two sets up to 26 points, Emma Bissett and Dave Beveridge started on 15 points and Collin Bleak on 14, while their opponents Gary Lowson and Pete Yearworth started on 5 and Peter Dixon started on 6. Emma got a good start beating Peter 26-23 but then lost the second set 26-24. Then Gary, the best player on the night, beat Dave in two close sets to give Rockets a 3-1 lead. Pete then won two sets against Collin and Gary won another two against Emma to extend this to 7-1. Collin won a sudden-death point to win the first set against Peter 26-25 and won the second set more comfortably 26-16 to make it 7-3. Dave lost the first set comfortably to Pete but won another 26-25 set to make it 8-4. Gary then won both sets against Collin to close out the fixture and give the cup title to Rockets, doing very well to remain undefeated on the night.

Grove Trophy 2018

Edward Coles (4th from the left) is pictured with the Grove Trophy while the other boys display their participants’ mementos, which were kindly donated by club member, Sandy Pearson. Unfortunately the Paterson brothers were not available for the photoshoot.

The members of St Andrews Table Tennis Club’s youth coaching group recently competed for this season’s Grove Trophy. After an exciting final a new name was engraved on the trophy, with Edward Coles defeating the 2016 champion, Murray Paterson. It was fine performance from Edward who was unfazed by reaching the semi-finals as the second placed in his group matches. The losing semi-finalists were Keir Paterson (finalist in 2016) and Michael Snodgrass (finalist from 2017).
As usual, all the boys displayed a high standard of sportsmanship over the course of the night.

Swots Avoid Relegation in Final Week of League Fixtures

In the final week of league fixtures in the Dundee and District Table Tennis League, St Andrews team Swots needed four points to avoid relegation to Division Three in their fixture against Comets. Nick Shepherd and Collin Bleak started with fairly comfortable 3-1 and 3-0 wins against Dougal Ogilvie and Glenn Christie respectively, and Dave Beveridge and Collin then came through in two 3-2 wins against Fraser Smith and Dougal, to obtain their required four wins in the first four matches of the night. Nick extended the lead to 5-0 with a 3-1 win against Fraser and the pair of Collin and Dave beat Glenn and Fraser 3-1 in the doubles, but the remaining four games went to Comets.

New Kids lost 7-3 on two occasions, against leading Division Two teams, Villa and Brechin. Against Villa, cadet David Hay was too strong for the New Kids trio of Howard Lee, Ian Smith, and Kong Wan, not dropping a set. Howard and Ian both managed to beat Ian McLagan, Ian 3-1 and Howard 3-2 (coming through a close fourth set 15-13 when 2-1 down). Ian managed a good 3-2 win against Sandy Bertie and Howard was just denied the same victory, losing 12-10 in the fifth to Sandy.

Ian Smith who had an outstanding win against Brechin’s Derek Mitchell

Against Brechin, it was the same number of wins for each of the New Kids players, and the same overall result. Howard and Ian both lost comfortably to John Anderson and beat Aaron Robertson in five sets, Ian in a very close 14-12 deciding set. Ian got an incredible win—maybe the best individual win for any St Andrews player this season—against Derek Mitchell, Derek having only previously lost three matches this season.

Truants managed a dominant 8-2 win against Tigers. Sascha Roschy won all three of his singles games for the loss of only one set to Scott Thomson. Scott had previously defeated both Alain Leger and Graham Wood. Alain and Graham were both successful in their two other games against Kenny McLaren and Marion Davidson, and Graham and Sascha teamed up to win the doubles 3-1 against Scott and Kenny.

Prospects finished their season with a 5-5 draw against Tass. Chris Wroniecki was in excellent form for Prospects, beating Stewart Clark 3-2, Robert Fortheringham 3-0, and Jim Wotherspoon 3-1. Dave Goddard managed the other singles win, recovering from 2-0 down to win 13-11 in the fifth set against Robert. Dave was unfortunate not to get a second win, losing out 11-9 in the fifth to Jim. Despite his best efforts, Neil Lea was unable to win a set on this occasion. In the doubles, the pair of Chris and Dave managed a good 3-0 win against Stewart and Jim, including a 17-15 first set.

Sandy’s news from his world cruise

The club has missed Sandy during the second half of the season, though we appreciate the attractions of cruising around the world. Needless to say, with half an eye on next season, he gives high priority to his table tennis practice. Playing conditions on the ship are good but not quite to the same standards of excellence as at the Victory Memorial Hall.

Sandy holds the ladder during the ball search

The low ceiling on the cruise liner requires a periodic rummage in the lighting gantry for all those smashed balls which didn’t quite connect. Naturally we feel very sorry for the opponents who had to cope with Sandy’s smashed balls which did connect. Below is a picture of Sandy having a knock with his playing partner on St Patrick’s Day, with a hint of green on his clothing and more than a hint on the table. Given it was 32 degrees centigrade outside in Kuala Lumpur, Sandy was grateful for the onboard air conditioning.

Sandy (far end) celebrates St Patrick’s Day

Mixed penultimate week for St Andrews Teams

Prefects were looking for a strong win in their final fixture against Rockets to make their claim for 5th place in Division One of the Dundee and District Table Tennis League. Despite a hat-trick of wins from Michael Hahn, a 6-4 loss means they will probably have to settle for 6th place. Sascha Roschy’s three games all went to a fifth set, but he was only able to beat Gary Lowson, losing to Jim Dyson and Peter Dixon, the latter being a particularly close 11-9 loss. Clyde Johnson unfortunately couldn’t pick up any wins.

Truants managed a 5-5 draw with Viscounts. Sascha Roschy lost only his second singles game of the year in Division Two with a reverse to an in-form Andrew Nimmo, who was undefeated. Both Sascha and Graham Wood managed strong wins against Jacob Munro and Filip Jovanovic, and joined forces to beat Andrew and Jacob 3-2 in the doubles.

New Kids had a strong 6-4 win against Rollercoasters, although no player was undefeated on the night. Howard Lee beat David Lane and Tony Cook, but lost to Paul Jackson, while Ian Smith lost to David but beat Tony and Paul. The pair of Howard and Ian managed a 3-1 win against Paul and David in the doubles, while Kong Wan secured a good 3-0 win against Tony.

Swots had a close fixture against Chieftains, losing 6-4, with each team winning two five-set games. They were unfortunate at the start of the night, losing the first two games 3-2, Emma Bissett to Jacob Munro and Collin Bleak to Fiona Kinloch. Things went from bad to worse as Dave Beveridge lost 3-0 to Jim Tawse and Collin lost 3-1 to Jacob, losing all three sets by the minimum two-point margin. However, Swots then mounted a comeback, winning four of the remaining six games. Emma beat Jim 3-2 but Dave lost to Fiona 3-1, leaving Swots fighting for a draw. A strong doubles win for Emma and Collin against Jacob and Fiona was followed by a 3-2 win for Collin against Jim and a great 3-1 win for Dave against Jacob but unfortunately Emma could not complete the comeback, losing out 6-4 to Fiona.
In their second fixture of the week, Swots drew 5-5 with Lundin Links. Nick Shepherd was the star for Swots, winning a hat-trick for the loss of just two sets. Collin had a very narrow win against Roman Nydza, scraping through 13-11 in the fifth set, while Dave lost all three of his games but did well to pick up a set in all three. A good doubles win for Dave and Collin proved decisive in the overall draw.

Prospects found their fixture against Kingsway tough, losing 9-1. Ian Brumwell had a comfortable 3-0 win against Alan Carrie but Dave Goddard and Neil Lea could not add to the score.

Michael Hahn (left) alongside Callum Riddoch and Adeola Fabola, who came 2nd in the Scottish Inter-league men’s team event

Two St Andrews players, Michael Hahn and Sascha Roschy, represented the Dundee League in the annual Scottish Inter-League competition this weekend in Perth. Sascha contributed to a great 3rd place finish for Dundee ‘A’ in the Veteran Men’s event while Michael played as the number 1 player for Dundee ‘A’ in the Senior Men’s, with the team managing a fantastic 2nd place finish against some strong opposition, losing only to West of Scotland and coming through in no fewer than three 3-2 team matches.

Swots reach Handicap Final

Swots continued an excellent run to reach the final of the Handicap Cup in the Dundee and District Table Tennis League. They managed to beat Chieftains 10-7. Emma Bissett won 3 of her 6 sets, and Dave Beveridge 2 of his 5, but the star of the show was Chris Wroniecki, playing up for Swots, who won 5 of his 6 sets. Being poised at 6-6, Chris beat Jim Tawse 2-0, also winning on actual points played, to give Swots an 8-6 lead. Emma drew 1-1 with Jacob Munro to set Swots up 9-7, before Dave finished matters off in the first set against Fiona Kinloch 21-19.

Swots’ league match did not go the same way as the trio of Emma, Dave, and Nick Shepherd lost 8-2 to a strong Villa side. Nick won 3-0 against Ian McLagan and 3-1 against Sandy Bertie, but David Hay was too strong for all of the Swots players, not dropping a set. Dave Beveridge was unfortunate not to beat Ian, losing 3-2.

Prefects had a strong 9-1 win against Thumpers. Michael Hahn and Justin Yang were unbeaten; Michael only losing one set, to Tony O’Shea 12-10, but only lost 11 points across the other three sets to assert his dominance. Justin beat Tony 3-0, but lost a set against both Ian Hunter and Jordan Ednie, the latter being a particularly entertaining match. Clyde Johnson eased past Ian and recovered after losing the first set to beat Tony, but lost 3-1 against Jordan.

Sascha Roschy who did not drop a set this week

Sascha Roschy was back in action after an injury this week for Truants, not losing a set in his three games against Jill Milne, Dougal Ogilvie, and Glenn Christie. Alain Leger was also undefeated, losing one set each against Jill and Dougal, and teamed up with Sascha to win the doubles. Knut Radmer added a 3-0 win against Jill, and was unlucky to lose 3-2 to Dougal, losing the last two sets 12-10.

New Kids lost a close match against Chieftains 6-4. Ian Smith beat Jim Tawse 3-1, while Howard Lee also beat Jim and had a good win against Jacob Munro 3-2, coming through a close fourth set 16-14. Howard and Ian also came through 3-2 to win the doubles against Fiona and Jim.

Prospects had a tough game against Princes, losing 8-2. Chris Wroniecki beat Eddie Dougan 3-0 and teamed up with Ian Brumwell to beat Blair Duncan and Chris Riddoch 11-9 in the deciding set. Ian was unlucky not to win any singles games, losing 3-2 to both Chris Riddoch and Eddie.

Swots reach Handicap Cup Semi-Final

Emma Bissett, whose wins were crucial for Swots’ win in the Handicap Cup

It was a busy week for St Andrews teams in the Dundee and District Table Tennis League, especially following many postponed fixtures due to the snow. The highlight of the week was Swots’ victory against Aces—currently second in Division One—in the quarter-final of the Handicap Cup. Emma Bissett won the first two sets of the night against Grant Williams to give Swots a 2-0 lead and they never fell behind despite being levelled on three occasions. Jason Fleming was the star for Aces, only losing one of his sets to Emma. Emma’s win was crucial, giving Swots a 9-7 lead which Dave Beveridge capitalised on, winning the first set against Grant to give Swots the victory. Emma and Nick Shepherd each won four sets of their six played, with Dave winning two of his five.

Swots also played their league match against Tigers but unfortunately lost 8-2. Collin Bleak had a strong win against Kenny McLaren 11-9 in the fifth set and Collin and Nick won by the same margin to Logie Anderson and Scott Thomson, despite losing the first set 11-1. Emma Bissett was unfortunate not to also beat Kenny, losing 12-10 in the fifth set, having fought back from 2-0 down. Nick Shepherd also will be disappointed not to have won a singles game, losing in five games to both Scott and Logie.

Prefects had two dominant wins which see them currently in fifth place in Division One. First, they defeated Defenders 7-3. Michael Hahn was impervious, not dropping a set in any of his singles games. Clyde Johnson also won his three games, each 3-1, and Michael and Clyde won their doubles game against Ken Head and Arthur Pritchard 3-2. Bonifac Legrady demonstrated some good attacking play but ultimately lost to Richard Tough and Arthur 3-1 and Ken 3-0. Prefects also beat Saints 10-0. Again, Michael did not drop a set, whilst Clyde and Justin Yang lost one set each.

Two St Andrews teams, New Kids and Truants faced each other this week. Graham Wood was undefeated in singles for Truants, although lost a set to Dave Beveridge and two to Howard Lee. Howard beat Alain Leger and Dave beat Knut Radmer, both 3-0, and the pair combined to beat Graham and Alain 11-0 in the fifth set. However, the rest of the games went to Truants.

Prospects had a tough week, losing both of their fixtures. First, they lost 7-3 to Duffers. Chris Wroniecki, Neil Lea, and Dave Goddard each beat William Liddle, but Richard McLaren and Andy Reid proved too strong, although Chris managed to take Andy to a fifth set. In their second fixture, the two-man team of Dave and Chris lost 9-1 to Kingsway. Chris got a strong 3-1 win against Willie Cooper, but lost to both Derek Thomson and Stephen Caird 3-0. Dave was unlucky to lose 11-7 in the fifth set to Derek, and even more unlucky to lose 14-12 in the fifth set to Willie. The pair of Chris and Dave were also unfortunate to lose 11-9 in the fifth set in the doubles to Stephen and Derek.