Martin Lowe

HE MIGHT have learned the game standing on a box but Martin Lowe has become a towering presence in the York Table-Tennis League.

The Coneysthorpe player has emerged victorious in all 29 of his games this season and is now preparing to defend the Closed Men's Singles title he has won for the last three years.

In fact, Martin's dominance has seen the 39-year-old trainee teacher lose just four matches since joining the league in 2004.

He was lured to Coneysthorpe by a friend whom he played with in the Scarborough League, where Martin's record is even more impressive - he has not lost a match in five seasons since moving to the seaside town from Croydon.

However, despite his imperious standing in the Minster city, he is not taking anything for granted when the two-day Closed Championships get underway at York RI on Saturday.

The runner-up in last year's Press York Sports Awards' sports personality category said: "I might be unbeaten this season but the York League isn't easy. It's always possible I will get beaten.

"I've had a few close calls this season. I won 11-9 in the fifth set against Tony Reed and, only the other night, a young player Nathan Horsley also took me to the final set before I won 11-6.

"With the sets now being the first to 11 instead of 21, if you lose points early on you can soon be in trouble but I'm hoping to win the Closed Championships again. I really enjoy the game and want to carry on for as long as I can."

Former champions Reed and Mick Wilcockson have both triumphed against Martin in the past and are regarded as two of his biggest challengers for the title, as is number two seed Richard Moss.

Sessions player Moss has been the defeated finalist in each of Martin's previous victories and was a three-time champion himself prior to the former Surrey county player's arrival on the York scene.

When asked about other possible future contenders to his crown, Martin added: "There are a couple of youngsters who are improving and could overtake me with Edward Fambely, an under-18 player for Malton, probably the biggest threat."

Losing his supremacy to a young pretender would certainly cushion the blow for Swinton-based Martin.

He coaches up to 20 youngsters two nights a week at Scarborough's Graham School and the purpose-built, lottery-funded centre represents contrasting surroundings to those Martin was introduced to the game in.

"I've been playing for 35 years, since I was four," he explained. "My dad used to play when he was younger and, when me and my sister came along, he got us involved.

"We had a table in our back garden and I used to stand on a box because I was too small to play otherwise. It's a great sport and more athletic than most people think.

"It's good exercise and you meet lots of different people. It's a game you can play for years and years right into your old age as well."

Martin also plays golf and tennis and has turned his hand to "pretty much everything".

Despite his love of table-tennis, however, he can appreciate the reasons behind the failure to shrug off its status as a minority sport.

He said: "It has never really had a big presence on television because it's quite a subtle game. If you aren't familiar with the sport, there's a lot of spin on the ball that you can't always see.

"Sometimes a player misses the ball and the layman might not understand why but it's normally down to a great shot rather than the person who has missed making a mistake. You can't tell how fast the ball is travelling.

"They've tried changing the colour of the table and the ball and using different kinds of camera angles but, even though it's okay to watch live, it doesn't translate easily on to TV. Maybe now there are so many television channels, there might be an independent one that will take it on though."

Back on the local scene, Martin is hoping to soon win the one title that has so far eluded him during his time as a York League player.

The former Surrey junior number one has helped Coneysthorpe reach second place in the first division this season but leaders Bootham remain the team to beat, having won the last three championships.

He said: "Coneysthorpe is a great club and Charles Allenby makes sure it's well run. He's very organised.

"We have a stronger team this season and our second team are also top of division two so we are improving all the time and it would be great to win the title for Charles."