I’ve been playing table tennis for about seven years now and for the majority of that time I’ve played in local leagues. Predominantly this has been Peterborough but as of late I’ve been playing in Cambridge and Ely leagues too.
When I started the Peterborough league had four divisions and in my first season, we as a team came second bottom in the bottom division. Over the next couple of years I improved and in the season that ended early due to Covid, we were mid table of the third division.
Post Covid, a lot of the top players didn’t return to the Peterborough leagues and so it was down to two divisions. In the seasons following Covid I’ve been playing in the top division. The first one, I finished on around 70%, and the then the one just gone, just over 90%. It’s still very enjoyable however I have been looking to make a step up and to carry on improving.
This is why I’ve then branched out to other leagues… The Ely league is a similar level to Peterborough - I’ve ended this season on 90%+. The Cambridge league is a step up compared to the other two, I’ve averaged just shy of 50% this season.
In this time I also discovered British league. Instead of playing every week against a different team, these are full weekends playing four matches across it, against teams from further afield. It would definitely be a step up from anything else I played before but I wanted to give it a go.
I’d recently joined a British table tennis Facebook group, and someone had posted that they were a player short. I gave them a message and a few days later I was signed up. The team was second from bottom, having won one game against the team at the bottom. This worked in my favour as it meant there was no external pressure for me to win matches so I could just go and play.
The event was hosted at St Neots, only about a half an hour drive for me. It’s a great venue as it is solely for table tennis. The only nit I can pick for it is that it does get very stuffy in there as the day goes on.
I arrived half an hour before the first match was due to start, met my teammates and managed to get on the table for the warmup. A lot of the other teams seemed to have been there for a while so had already been warming up for some time and had claimed space for seating and bags etc so we were a little crammed in the corner.
It was at this point that I discovered that I was going to be playing as number two. In local leagues, everyone plays everyone - 3x3. However, in British league, teams are made up of four players and are seeded one through four and then you only play the appropriate players in the opposing team. For me, this meant that I would be playing the other teams’ number one and three. I think I would have preferred to play as three or even ideally four as that would have meant I would have played the weaker (but still stronger than me) players. However, the rules are the rules, and because I have a ranking from other tournaments that I have played, I player as two.
I was up first against their number one - I was prewarned that he was one of the best players in the hall. It was a white wash of a game with the occasional good rally. 0-3 loss.
Next match up against their number three. I’d seen him play against one of our other players so somewhat knew what I was up against. I thought it might be close… First leg was a close loss 8-11, however I brought it back in the next leg with 11-5. The following leg really decided the match. It went to deuce and unfortunately I lost 10-12. The following leg, he stepped it up a gear and won 3-11. 1-3 loss.
Two losses, but both were good games. I’d gotten the first game jitters out of the way against opponents I wasn’t expected to get anything out of.
Their number one was someone that I had played before in the Cambridge league - not successfully, and if I’m honest it wasn’t a very close game. The first leg felt similar to before, lost 5-11. However, with some tactics from my teammates I stormed into a 8-2 lead in the second leg, only to then lose 10-12… This run carried on into the third leg losing 3-11. 0-3 loss.
Next I was up against their number three, I thought it would be a closer game than the previous one. The first leg was another loss in deuce 11-13. It just got worse from there, I felt in the game, but didn’t have the consistency to get over the line: 7-11, 5-11. It’s also worth noting that my opponent pulled off I think the best shot I’ve ever faced. I got into the rally nicely, opening up and on the attack. I pushed him deep into the forehand side with a smash only to then go the other way. I executed it as well as I felt I could, only for the opponent to dive and pick it up off of basically the floor. It floated right into me and I had already zoned out thinking I’d won the point - I hadn’t. 0-3 loss.
This is the only team below us in the table so it was bound to bring some close games. My first game was up against their number one - a top junior, very good at staying close to the table, compact and quick strokes. At this point I was starting to see a theme… I lost the first 10-12 and the second 14-16. The third they went up another gear and I lost it 4-11. 0-3 loss.
Next up, against a player with pimples, never something I enjoy playing against as it adds that extra bit of complication. It was close, 8-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9, 4-11. Gutted to have not won that one as it was my best chance to win one so far. 2-3 loss.
I’ve played at Smash Kettering before so I know a few of their players already. First match was up against one of these players, I’ve taken a leg of off them previously but not much more than that. I’d won a lot of points this weekend with slow spinny backhand open ups. I did one pretty early on in the first game and it got smashed straight through. It didn’t get any better from there onwards. 5-11, 9-11, 7-11, 0-3 loss.
My final chance to win a game, against Kettering’s number three… Our number four had had a close 2-3 loss against him. I don’t think either of us played our best, was a messy game. 7-11, 12-10 (my first deuce win), 6-11, and 10-12. 1-3 loss.
In the end, I lost all eight of my games. Whilst I’m gutted I didn’t win any, it was a good experience to play and it’s only made me want to play again more. I counted it back and I had eight legs go to deuce - I lost 7 of them. If I had that extra bit and could get over the line in those legs, perhaps I would have won a couple.