A PAIR of talented table tennis players have celebrated coming runners-up in their division.

Steve Jeffs and Bruce Elliot finished second place in the third division of the Stirlingshire and Midland Table Tennis league.

The pair are members of the Dumyat Table Tennis Club and compete in the league competitively, on top of playing for fun.

Reflecting on their achievement, Bruce said: “It’s been great fun to play table tennis again, both from the social aspect of making new friends at the Dumyat Centre and competitively to the welcome and encouragement we received from the Stirlingshire and Midland league.”

Steve and Bruce started playing table tennis when they were younger and last played competitively twenty-four and fifty-one years ago respectively.

They returned to the sport when the Royal Voluntary Service introduced a weekly table tennis session for over fifties.

“Table tennis is a great sport,” Steve said. “Not only physically but mentally, and is a fantastic way for older people to keep fit.

“The weekly sessions at the Dumyat Centre in Menstrie are also somewhere those over fifty can go for a couple hours to socialise as well as play.”

Table tennis sessions have grown in popularity across the Wee County over the past year, with Dollar and Tullibody hosting open sessions.

The Dumyat Centre hosts a free table tennis group for over fifties. Anyone of any experience level is welcome to the group, which meets between 1pm and 3pm on a Tuesday.