The nature of professional table tennis, where players often participate in multiple leagues, forces clubs to calculate which matches justify the expense of fielding their top talent. This was the strategy adopted by CER l'Escala last Friday when they visited the court of the leader, Real Club Cajasur de Priego, in Córdoba, without any of their foreign players. The outcome was a decisive 4-0 defeat for the visitors.

The representatives for the CER in this first match of 2026 were Iker González, Xavier Peral, and David González. Peral was the only one who played two matches and, in the final encounter, managed to offer some resistance, although the local player Robert Gardos quickly secured the victory with a 3-0 score. The other players from Córdoba, internationals Machado and Soderlund, proved overwhelmingly superior, maintaining their team's solitary lead.

This loss keeps CER l'Escala firmly in the relegation zone. The team will have a chance to earn points in a more manageable fixture next Friday, January 23, when they return home to l'Escala to face Irun Leka Enea.