A devoted table tennis coach who turned 80 is so sincere with the game that he did not even marry.
Chris Town has been in the game since he was just seven. He has been in love with table tennis so much for the past seven decades that he says he’s “married” to the sport. Chris did try to get married and got pretty close four times in his life but every time, the sport “got in the way.”
Meet the old man in the video below.
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Video credit: Rumble
When Chris was engaged for the first time, his bride-to-be asked if he’ll quit the game after marriage. He called the wedding off instead.
Chris might not have been very lucky with love but was particularly successful in table tennis. Winning over 70 trophies during his time at the game, Chris is one of the oldest table tennis coaches in the UK.
Chris, who is a resident of Bradford, West Yorks, explained his love life, saying: “Table tennis is the reason I never married. I nearly married four times, and each time it was the same – table tennis got in the way.
“I’m married to the sport.
“The last time I was supposed to be getting married I had everything planned. I had a band, the ring, everyone was invited – but I had to call it off.
“She said to me, ‘I hope you’re not going to be playing table tennis when we’re married’ – and after that I ended it.
“She made me pick between her and table tennis but table tennis was always going to win.
“I started playing when I was just seven, and it’s been my lover ever since – I hope to keep playing for many years more.”
The Hermits table tennis club, which is a “home away from home” for Chris, is one of the oldest in the country and was built back in 1946, just after the war.
Chris has been a member of the club since 1947.
Chris started working as a full-time coach in 1963 and has been an employee of the club since 1986. Over the tenure of his service, he has trained players aged between five and 85 years.
So far, he has no plans to retire from his coaching career and hopes to inspire more people to learn the game.
Talking of his retirement plans, Chris said: “I think I’m going to play table tennis until the day I die.
“I was obsessed with the sport – as a boy I’d always go and watch everyone play and I was mesmerized by that tiny white ball.
“The first time I played table tennis I had a paddle and I was at my aunt’s house and we hit the ball on her table with a net attached across it.
“Seventy years later and I’m still playing the same game with the same paddle on the same table – and there hasn’t been a day I haven’t played.”
He added: “Hermits is one of the oldest clubs in the UK, an institution I’m proud to be a part of, and I must be one of the oldest coaches.
“I’ve been doing this for so long, I’ve coached entire generations of players.”
Chris met an unfortunate accident in 1963 and lost a finger and a thumb but he did not abandon the game. He trained with other disabled patients at a rehab facility and emerged as an even better player.
Replaced!