At first glance, Nicole Yin and Thelma Mathieson don’t appear to have anything in common.

After all, little Nicole loves chess, painting and playing the piano and she’s only 8 – “but my birthday is next week’’ – while Thelma loves gardening and is 84.

So, there’s a difference of 76 years, plus Nicole lives on Auckland’s North Shore and Thelma in sunny Nelson.

But they both share a love of table tennis, which is what has brought them together this week.

They’re the young and the old of the New Zealand Table Tennis Championships in Invercargill, proving that the sport is indeed a game for all ages and abilities.

“Anyone can play table tennis,’’ said Kitty Xie, who’s Nicole’s mum and is at the championships looking after her daughter and older brother Ethan.

“From eight to 99, any age can play. It is really good.’’

It sure is good. Just ask Thelma, who defies her age every time she’s on the table. Steady and determined, her slow chopping approach keeps her opponents honest and makes them work hard for points and victories.

Though she has had a long involvement in table tennis, which includes having a handful of Southland titles to her name, this is her first open national championship. And she says she’s got a bit of a kick out of being the oldest player at the Invercargill event.

“There is a wee sense of pride about that actually,’’ Thelma said.

“And yet I came here thinking, ‘oh, you silly old fool. What do you think you're doing here?’. But I have won one or two games, which has helped.’’

Everyone loves winning, even when you’re zeroing in on 85 years of age. But for Thelma it’s about so much more than winning, as nice as that always feels.

Having fun, as she told Nicole, was always important and we should never lose sight of that. But as you get older, it’s also a sport to keep you fit, Thelma said.

“Absolutely but I think I'm lucky in some respects,’’ Thelma said.

“We've got stairs at home and I think stairs are marvellous.

“You're going up and down all day it's a form of fitness that you are achieving without having to exercise.

“But table tennis, yes, it certainly does keep you fit.’’

It’s also the ultimate social connector, a sport where age is indeed no barrier to playing and making friends.

Just a quick look to the far corner of the Stadium Southland venue proved that.

Because there it was, a caring great grandmother, from the top of the South Island, and a shy Auckland girl chatting away to each other, talking table tennis, of course.

Article added: Saturday 30 September 2023