By the age of 40, most athletes’ best is in their rear-view mirror.
Not Gavin Rumgay, though; he remains seemingly unbeatable within Scotland and his goals are as ambitious as they’ve always been.
Last month, Rumgay won his 18th Scottish national table tennis title, extending his own record for most Scottish titles ever, and now he has the world record in his sights.
The accolade of most national titles is held by Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive, who has collected 24, with second place currently held by Malta’s Mario Genovese, with 20.
And so, with Rumgay having not even contemplated retirement, he’s hell-bent on adding further to his already impressive haul of Scottish titles and usurping, at the very least, Genovese on the world-best list.
“It was such a buzz to get that 18th Scottish title,” says Rumgay, who defeated Scottish No.2 Colin Dalgleish in last month's final.
“Jean-Michel Saive’s record of 24 is obviously a great achievement and maybe that's in my sights but Genovese’s record of 20 is what I have my eye on first and that’s definitely a realistic target.
“I feel like I can definitely get past him - I'm looking at 21 titles.
“We’ll have to see if I can achieve it but I definitely don't have any thoughts of quitting anytime soon.”
At his peak, he regularly competed with the world’s best and given he’s been at the top of the sport for so long - he's been Scottish No.1 for a remarkable 1045 consecutive weeks - it’s unsurprising he’s seen the sport evolve quite drastically. Yet, through a combination of skill and mental fortitude, has consistently managed to keep all comers at bay.
“It is getting harder to win these Scottish titles because these guys I'm up against are playing in the British Premier League every other weekend whereas I'm coaching, so it's a totally different lifestyle,” he says.
“The way I manage it is tactics - I’m stopping them playing their good shots.
“I starve them of chances to play well which is vital because if I let these guys, who are often 20 years younger than me, play their big shots, I'd have no chance. That's where my experience comes in.
“And mentally, something just kicks-in when I get to a tournament. I'll turn up thinking, oh dear, I've not trained much and I'm not sure how it's going to go. But then once I get into the tournament, I maybe have a couple of reasonable wins and I know I’m going to be ok. It’s like I can just click back into that high level when I need to.”
Rumgay admits the news late last year that table tennis would not be included in Glasgow 2026 came as a major blow, denying him the chance to compete in his sixth Commonwealth Games for Scotland.
However, any worries that being deprived of yet another tilt at the Commonwealth Games may dent his motivation to train have proven to be entirely unfounded.
“It's a strange decision to leave table tennis out of Glasgow 2026 and really disappointing, obviously. It's a pity because motivation-wise, it would have been brilliant to have had that as a target,” he says.
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“When the decision about the Commonwealth Games became public, I did wonder if my motivation might dip because certainly, as I get older, I am aware of more parts of my body becoming more uncomfortable.
“But that didn’t happen and I’m still as keen as ever.”
Rumgay may have further national titles in his sights, but he also retains a desire to compete on the international stage.
Having turned 40 last summer, he’s now eligible to play in Masters events and success in this is, he reveals, without question part of the plan and fits in perfectly with his refusal to slow down.
“In June, there's the European Masters in Serbia and next year, in China, is the World Over 40s Championships,” he says.
“They would be great to compete in, and it would also help keep my level up to continue winning national titles.”
