No games won but huge praise for ‘pioneer for sport in Shetland’
Photo: private
SHETLAND’s sole representative at this year’s Parkinson’s Scottish International Open table tennis championships has returned to the isles with no trophies but a bag full of good memories.
Described as an “absolute pioneer for sport in Shetland”, Paul Bendix travelled to Largs last weekend to participate as the first ever competitor from Shetland at the annual event.
Playing table tennis is widely regarded as one of the best ways of managing Parkinson’s symptoms, a neurological condition for which there is currently no cure.
The Parkinson’s Scottish International Open attracted table tennis players from Sweden, Austria and Ireland among others, and standards were high.
In the event, Paul lost all his group matches after, in his own words, being paired against three “of the most skilled and fittest competitors the tournament contained”.
He said he had requested to be placed in the class 1 group, which turned out to be a big mistake.
He continued: “So much for my likelihood of exiting the group stage. But I was determined to do what I could.
“The three matches were over in the blink of an eye as my opponents harvested the 11 points they needed for victory and onward progress. There were no glorious last-stand heroics and I duly crashed out.
“I suspect my opponents were in all probability merely surprised to have encountered as poorly-armed an opponent as they did.”
But local table tennis development officer Joan Smith, who also coaches a group of six local Parkinson’s sufferers, including the 68-year old from Vidlin, sees it quite differently.
“To become the very first player to fly the flag for Shetland at this event is a massive achievement in its own right, and managing to get points on the board in every single match against top-tier opponents is something to be genuinely proud of,” she said.
“Paul is an absolute pioneer for Shetland sport. Stepping onto the international stage for the first time and facing the absolute highest calibre of competitors in class 1 takes immense courage.
“To not only represent us so brilliantly on the national and international stage -including an interview with Parkinson’s UK magazine – but to also fight hard and score points in every single match is a fantastic achievement.
“We couldn’t be prouder of him.”
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