Fitzroy’s table tennis room is 100 per cent the best thing about the University of Bedfordshire

Walking into the University of Bedfordshire I hoped to leave with a degree and a girlfriend, instead I left with a new found passion for the sport of table tennis.

Not even the proudest Lutonian would claim it is most glamorous place to seek higher education, but everything that is endearing about the town is embodied in Fitzroy’s table tennis room.

Students come to study at the University of Bedfordshire from all over the world, it is a place where people from different cultures, religions and upbringings are united by not just a desire to further themselves educationally, but they are united by a deep affection for the atmosphere of the table tennis room.

Far more than just table tennis

When you make the decision to spend your night in the table tennis room, it doesn’t mean you’re merely going to spend your night engaging in the rollercoaster ride that is the sport of table tennis. It also means that you’re signing up to spend time in the place that can only be described as the heartbeat of Luton’s unique student experience.

Certainties of the table tennis room

One of the most alluring aspects of the sport of table tennis is how unpredictable each game is, admittedly some players are better than others, but on any given day, everyone has a punchers chance at beating anyone else. However, when it comes to Fitzroy’s table tennis; it is the inevitabilities of the room that makes it such a gratifying place to spend time in.

On any given evening in the table tennis room, there are certain players you can almost guarantee you will encounter: firstly, the player who garishly smashes the edge of the bat against the table in reaction to every point they lose, this player is undoubtedly one that only serves to annoy every other person in the room. Secondly, the ‘Diego Costa of table tennis’ – who whole heartedly appeals for every point despite the room clearly seeing the ball hit their side of the table. Thirdly, the player who enjoys a reign as king thats so long that they can’t help but abrasively yell ‘NEXT’ after every victory, its inevitable that everyone in the room will eventually route against this player and express jubilation when they’re eventually dethroned.

No matter how many hours you’ve previously spent playing table tennis, should you spend a night in the table tennis room, not only will you engage in conversation with someone you have never previously spoken to; but you will find out that they think the illuminati runs the world and have access to the cameras in student halls. It is this unavoidability that the room becomes a conflation of eccentric characters, that makes it such an eventful place to be.

When I tell my grandchildren about how I spent my Friday nights at university, it’ll give me great pride to tell them that I wasn’t at Wetherspoons or at the Student Union, but instead I was desperately vying to be the greatest table tennis player that had ever graced the University of Bedfordshire’s table tennis room.

The table tennis room not only provided a place to play the magical sport of table tennis with your pals, it also provided the sweetest escapism from whatever issues student life had thrust on you that day.