British Universities Championships 21/22 Nov 2022
Danny Bajwa has been on his travels again. Along with a contingent of other Scottish students, he took part in three events at the British Universities’ Championships. The Men’s Singles was a very big event with sixty-four groups, mostly of four players each. Danny was seeded 7th and worked his way through four rounds to the quarter-final. Here he lost to top seed and eventual winner, Shayan Siraj.
Men’s Doubles: Danny and his partner, Dylan Currie, reached the semi-finals, where they lost to the eventual winners 1/3. Winning a Bronze medal apiece made them the top performers in the Scottish squad.
Mixed Doubles: Danny and Paula Callaghan were disappointed to lose out on a chance to reach the quarter-finals when, at 1-2 down, they led 9-1 in the fourth set of their Last 16 match only to lose it 1/3. The knowledge that their opponents eventually claimed silver medals may have eased the pain somewhat.
Danny’s next outing was at the North Ayrshire Open, on the 28/29th November. He had a successful day on the Saturday, when he was runner up in the Men’s Singles and won the Open Doubles with long-term partner Martin Johnson.
Being the thoughtful person he is, Danny returned on the Sunday to help coach the young players in their events, along with Dylan De Silva and Shannon Brown, who is still on the injury list. Maria and Reuben De Silva, Cory, and Finlay all played well, gaining some good wins and fighting some tight battles.
League Results
This season there is only one division, comprised of four of last year’s Division 1 sides, three from Division 2, and one new team. In the first week of play, with the first three matches pitting ex-Division 1 teams against former Division 2 teams, the results were somewhat one-sided.
Netflicks (Gordon Duff/Shona Morton) and KB Spinners (Brian Kirkpatrick/Kay Solaja) respectively beat The Watsonians (Gary and Mike Watson) and the Owd Coots (Steve Cussell/Raymond Pirrie) without losing a set.
Apple Crumble (Iain Macleod/Craig Wilson) did somewhat better against Gaulty Towers (Graham Gault/Paul Borrowdale). Although they couldn’t quite manage to steal a tie, Iain and Craig led 2/0 in the doubles and forced their opponents to a fifth set. In the ensuing singles Iain, showing signs of his usual ability to faze the higher-ranked players, won a set from Graham. Rumour has it that new member Paul is a force to be reckoned with.
Last Saturday morning the Top Bananas (Maria & Reuben De Silva) took on new entrants, the Chuckle Brothers (Barry Kirkpatrick/Paul Dowson). Paul, who has not played for some years, earned the best results for his side, making Maria battle for their second set, which she finally won 16-14. However, the in-form siblings went on to make a clean sweep.
The Top Bananas stayed on to play the KB Spinners in the afternoon, a match which was scheduled for December 17th. More on this match next week.
Over 50s Session
The Over-50s Thursday morning session continues to thrive. In fact in one recent week there were more players than spaces on the twelve tables. However, this situation was swiftly resolved when refreshments were ready, after which everyone was able to find a playing slot. Any over-50s who are passing the Club in Shakespeare Street between 11 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. on a Thursday are welcome to pop in to see what the session has to offer.
Linda Powell Report published in Dumfries and Galloway Standard 9 Dec 2022