Diccon Gray exceeded his expectations at the World Veteran Championships in Oman at the end of last month - but won't be resting on his laurels.

Gray, a member of Weald Table Tennis Club, fought his way through to the last eight of the men's over-60s singles. He also reached the last 16 of the mixed doubles and the last 32 of the men's doubles.

The Biddenden man beat Greek and German opponents in straight games before defeating Iranian Seyed-Ezaz Okhovat Alavain 3-1 in the last 16.

That set up a meeting with former Hungarian, Romanian and German international Zsolt-Georg Bohm, the second seed. Left-hander Gray fell in straight games, although he got close in the third, edged 11-8.

Bohm went on to lift the title, beating Chinese top seed Wang Yan Sheng in the final.

“Reaching the Quarter-Final exceeded my expectations and though I am pleased, I am determined to go back to the training hall with the aim of going further in future world and European championships,” Gray said.

“I felt the Quarter-Final was a step up in level from previous rounds - as Bohm is a former, multiple German national champion and also [has] international successes to his name.

“The strength in quality of the four Semi-Finalists was extremely high and the depth of other participants demonstrates the global appeal of the sport. I beat players from Chile, India, Germany [twice], Greece and Iran to reach the last eight.”

The Weald Table Tennis club meet on Sundays at Benenden Village Hall. For more details call Diccon on 07970 575285.