A railway enthusiast will tell it is no. 4472; in the Scotstoun
Leisure Centre in Glasgow on the evening of Wednesday 20th May 2009, it
was no.79; that was the number of the engine that brought the train to
a successful journey’s end and secured a place for Scotland in the
second stage of the Men’s Team event at the Commonwealth Table Tennis
Championships.
Gavin Rumgay, player no.79, was the Flying Scotsman.
He was at full steam to secure victory for Scotland in the crucial battle against Cyprus.
It was the contest to decide who would gain second place in Group A and join Singapore in the second group stage of proceedings.
Post War Years
Throughout
the immediate post was years, locomotive no.4472, the Flying Scotsman,
sped along the east coast main line from King’s Cross station in London
to Edinburgh Waverley, bringing its train load of passengers to their
destination in style.
On home soil, the table tennis version
of the Flying Scotsman secured victory for Scotland in style and sent
the train load of supporters home happy.
Top Speed
Rumgay,
from the off, was at top speed; the engines stoked to the full as he
beat Andreas Tziambos in straight games to set the team on its journey.
Furthermore, he was the man who brought the train to journey’s end by beating Marios Yiangou in four games.
Right Rails
The first and last matches contested were both won by Rumgay.
En
route, in matches full of tremendous rallies, Marios Yiangou brought
the Scottish express to a temporary halt by beating Stewart Crawford in
five games in the second match of the proceedings but then Craig
Howieson put the train back on the right rails.
He overcame
Panagiotis Neofytou in the third match of the contest to give Scotland
the momentum and thus set the stage for Rumgay.
Arrival
The
Flying Scotsman duly delivered and he delivered at top speed; the
Flying Scotsman had arrived safe and sound at its final destination, a
place in Stage Two of the Men’s Team event.
Singapore finished the group in first place followed by Scotland, Cyprus and Malta.
Final Order
The final order was as seeding predicted and that was the same situation in the other three groups in the Men’s Team event.
In
Group B the final order read: India, South Africa, Malaysia, Mauritius
and the Isle of Man whilst in Group C it was England, Wales, Northern
Ireland and Guernsey.
Meanwhile, in Group D the order of merit was Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jersey.
Stage Two
The top two teams in each group progress to play for places 1 to 8, the remainder for places 8 to 17.
Source: www.ittf.com
