Ping-pong pensioner pals bat off all rivals

It is a fast-paced sport, while two keen amateur Black Country players are at an age when most people are thinking about slowing down.

But for 83-year-old Ken Vaughan and Harold Dugmore, aged 82, there is nothing they like better than staying young and keeping fit by taking each other on at table tennis. Now the pair, along with 64-year-old pal Ken Hale, are looking for other ping-pong-loving pensioners to join their sport and create a mini-league.

Mr Dugmore, a retired coal merchant who lives in Penn, Wolverhampton, said: "Our wives are in a keep fit club and we thought we'd better not let ourselves get stale.

"We decided to start playing against each other.

"It's great fun and it's good for the body and soul, but people shouldn't be fooled into thinking that's all we play for. We mean business when we take each other on – we play to win."

The pensioner added he had now become so accomplished he regularly beat his three grandchildren, Joe, aged 17, and 16-year-old Thomas and Sam, when they challenge him to a match.

Mr Vaughan, a retired engineer, of Ettingshall Park, Wolverhampton, said: "I've been a bit of a sportsman all my life. I used to play cricket and after that I umpired for 20 or so years, so playing table tennis allows me to stay active and gets me out the house."

Every Monday the three men, who are all grandfathers, play at Lanesfield Methodist Church, in Laburnum Road, Lanesfield, where their wives, Vida Dugmore, Phyllis Vaughan and Pat Hale, attend a keep fit club. Mr Hale, a retired contract manager with British Rail, also of Ettingshall Park, said: "We've been playing about six or seven years now but I don't think any of us intend hanging up our bats any time soon."

* Anyone interested in playing table tennis can call the church on 01902 662136.