They have proven invincible in Scottish and British competition throughout this season but in their moment of glory Drumchapel Table Tennis club’s top players were delighted to be outshone by one of their own clubmate’s and he achieved it standing on one leg… literally!
The club’s 7-1 victory at Halton on Saturday secured the British Premier Division title a week after they had claimed the Scottish national title, going through both campaigns unbeaten to this point.
While it was not exactly a matter of going through the motions on their trip to Lancashire it was very much a routine business against the competition’s bottom club that has yet to win a match and was consequently already relegated.
By contrast when news came through of the latest success for the marvel that is Martin Perry, joy was unbounded.
“We had just won the top league in Britain and the only thing our players were talking about was Martin,” reported Terry McLernon, the club’s head coach and founder.
“It is an incredible achievement. In the final he was up against Dave Wetherill, who everyone remembers from London 2012 for the incredible shot he played when he threw his stick aside as he played it. Dave is number five in the world and Martin is ranked 20.
“It was the first time he has beaten him, so hopefully that’s him on the pathway to Tokyo.”
What makes the success achieved by the 22-year-old from Paisley truly astonishing is that he has only one leg and no hands.
Undeterred he has been a keen sportsman throughout his life, previously playing football and basketball, but he was drawn to table tennis six years ago and took to it immediately.
“Initially we attached the bat to his arm using Velcro, but we took him down to the GB para table tennis base as part of a group of our youngsters four years ago and there was a German player there who had a new contraption, a prosthetic that made it easier for him to play,” McLernon explained.
“Martin is a doer so he had one made for himself within a week and he’s now got a blade that he uses when he’s playing.”
McLernon said that Perry’s work ethic that has earned him the support of The Celtic Foundation and seen him move to the GB Para Table Tennis headquarters in Sheffield, has been exemplary, but his progression also speaks to the ethics of a club that genuinely understands the meaning of inclusivity.
First identified as having potential at a disability summer camp at Inverclyde, Perry was treated just like everyone else when he first turned up at the club.
“The first night he came I had forgotten he was coming, but he was just treated the same as everyone else and told to get on with it,” McLernon recounted.
“People often ask me what you need to do differently when you are coaching disabled youngsters and I tell them nothing. You just help them with what they are doing and work things out as you go along.”
His success put the gilt on what was already a great day for the club with the clinching of their first British Premiership Division title in eight years and just their third in all.
“It was a really great day. The lads played really well,” said McLernon.
Drumchapel’s multi-racial quartet were in control throughout their decisive match with Liu Song, their Chinese born veteran who has represented Argentina at three Olympic Games, registering an 11-2, 11-9, 11-6 win over Richard Lightowler to get things underway, wins for Calum Main - 11-9, 10-12, 6-11, 11-6, 11-2 over Kevin Dolder – Iranian-born Sep Bidari – 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 over Ryan Lunn and Taiwanese teenager Huang Yen Che – 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 over Jake Shaw – ensured that they would remain unbeaten throughout the campaign.
They still needed to register the win to be beyond the reach of closest rivals Ormesby however and the celebrations were briefly held up when Main suffered a surprise defeat, 21-10, 9-11, 8-11, 4-11 to Lightowler, however Song wasted no time in securing the result, beating Lun 11-4, 11-3, 11-2, to wrap things up, Huang and Bidari then ensuring that it was by an emphatic margin.
Only one hurdle remains when they will again be odds on favourites in their final league match of the season as they meet up, next weekend, with a number of former Drumchapel players who now form the nucleus of the North Ayrshire club that is celebrating having achieved its own season’s goal by avoiding relegation in what has been their first season in the Premier Division.
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