Wombourne’s Eric Renshaw reaches his sporting peak at 92 with national table tennis title

It is also now the source of his finest sporting achievement, aged 92.

Renshaw, who lives in Wombourne, last week won the men’s over-90s singles title at the Veterans Table Tennis Society’s National Championships, staged at Wolverhampton’s Aldersley Stadium.

“I was runner-up last year so to go one better now, I am pretty proud,” he said.

“I’ve had some big sporting achievements in the past, winning trophies in football and things like that. But this is the biggest one. This really is the tops.”

Renshaw, on the books of Sheffield United as a youngster, modestly describes himself as having been a “reasonable” footballer but in the era of the maximum wage, a career in engineering proved far more enticing.

It was work which brought him from his native Yorkshire to the Midlands in his early 40s and where he got his first taste of table tennis after retirement, at Stourbridge’s Crystal Leisure Centre.

“A chap who lived down the road from me used to play and one day invited me down,” he says. “I found I was quite good at it and I became very keen on it, very quickly.

“What do I love about it? Simple – it keeps you young! There is a saying, table tennis can be a game for life.

“You can’t play football for life but is possible, if you are fit, to play table tennis for life. That is my motto.

“I love the competitive spirit and the fact it keeps you going. It keeps your mind going too. It is good for that, as well as your physical ability.”

It has also taken Renshaw to places he would never have expected. Two years ago he reached the semi-finals in the over-85s category at the European Championships in Budapest, while he has also played in Florida.

His biggest and most important impact has been much closer to home. Renshaw has been a member at Wolverhampton’s Woodfield Table Tennis Club since the 1990s and runs weekly classes for the over-60s.

He was also responsible, together with friend John Harvey, for setting up the club’s Special Olympics branch which caters for children and adults with learning disabilities. More than two decades on, it is still going strong and Renshaw can be found coaching there every Tuesday. It comes as little surprise to discover his recent personal triumph has proved a very popular one.

“When I walked in last Tuesday, they were all cheering,” he says. “I told them coaching them and playing with them had helped me to do it.

“We can have as many as 20 people there at any one session. We can put six tables up. We have national tournaments for the special Olympics. It is a valuable thing to work with people. I really value that work.”

Renshaw, as you might expect, has no plans to put down his bat. The Veterans Masters tournament, due to be staged at Aldersley later this year, is already in his sights.

Yet while trophies might be nice, nothing can surpass the simple pleasure of playing.

“Hopefully this might entice other people who are getting on in life, though not as old as me, to start,” he says. “I fully recommend this as an excellent game to keep you going.”