I stand, bat in hand, ready for a thrashing.

She may be 65 years my senior but centagenarian Agnes Kingsman – or Westy as she’s affectionately known – is a keen table tennis player.

I’d read about Westy’s talent – her nickname comes from her maiden name, Westwater – for table tennis and, being a novice, I decided she could teach me a thing or two. After half an hour’s play, I realised that age really is just a number.

I’ve interviewed a few 100-year-olds in the past, but none quite like Westy. She recalls the Blitz as though it happened yesterday. Puzzles and crosswords keep her mentally active. Table tennis, or ping pong as it’s also known, keeps her physically fit.

Westy was eight when she first picked up a tennis racket. She ended up playing at county level in her native Scotland.

In winter, when the outdoor tennis courts froze – there were no indoor facilities back then – Westy kept up her racket sports by playing badminton. In later years she took up golf, but says it wasn’t energetic enough!

She continued sports when she left Scotland for London after sitting her civil service examination. “I got fed up; it was very boring where I lived,” she says. “I asked to be posted to London. My parents were against it; my father said, ‘you will get no help from me’, but I tossed my head and said I didn’t want any! I went to London independently. It was good training. My salary was about two guineas a week, so you had to be thrifty.”

Westy met her late husband, Tony, through their mutual love of the game. “I was always keen on tennis, so I joined a tennis club and was put in a team,” she recalls. “There was a chap there who asked if I would go in for mixed doubles. We won and I married him!”

Such was their passion for sport, the couple bought a house with a room big enough to play table tennis over the dining table.

Two years ago, Westy moved from Surrey to Abbeyfield Grove House in Ilkley, close to her son, Colin. She also has a daughter.

Abbeyfield Grove House is one of the weekly venues for the Ilkley and District University of the Third Age (U3A) table tennis sessions. The U3A is a national network of lifelong learning co-operatives for older people no longer in full-time work, providing opportunities for them to share learning experiences in a wide range of interest groups and to pursue learning for fun.

Westy is the Ilkley group’s oldest member, yet she’s probably as energetic as her younger counterparts, ranging from 50 to 70-plus.

“I’ve always been active. I’m not one to sit around all the time,” says Westy. “This is jolly energetic. At the end of the game I’m puffing!”

Youth is on my side, but after being on the brunt of Westy’s quick-wrist back-hander I feel I’m beaten before I’ve warmed up!

I question why the bats are two-tone – red on one side black on the other. Apparently the black side is for force and red is for spin.

Gripping my bat, I attempt to serve and strike the net. The ball is so light I daren’t hit it too hard but I’m finding it’s either all or nothing. The less pressure I apply, the more pathetic the serve. Increasing the pressure thrashes it across the table without even a bounce and on to the carpet. I’m embarrassed. Surely it’s a simple sport to grasp.

I turn to Westy for some tips, and she shows me how to hold the bat more firmly. I try a few more pathetic serves. One turns out okay, then John Matthews – the 71-year-old table tennis player we’re taking on in a doubles match along with Mary Barton, who runs the Friday table tennis sessions – demonstrates how it should be done. I copy his action and fail.

Any sport involving a small bat and an even smaller ball and I’m flummoxed. Years ago I spent half a game of squash trying to serve. But I won’t give up.

Back to the bat. John tells me to throw the ball up and bat it down as though I am patting it. I end up squashing it!

My counterparts must be getting stalled, but they are incredibly patient. Finally, I manage to bounce it before it sails over the net. At last!

I’m amazed how fast the game is. Westy is certainly a quick-paced player for her age, flicking the ball with ease back and forth. She pauses patiently when my forward lunge thrashes the ball on to the carpet once again. I’m in awe of her skill.

When asked how many games she has won, modest Westy tells me she has a few ‘pots’ from her tennis-playing days, but when asked her about her table tennis prowess she will only say: “Here we just play for fun. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses as long as you have a nice game.”

I may have given a poor performance, but I enjoyed every minute of it and if that’s the tonic for long life I’ll definitely take it up!

  • For more information about Ilkley and District U3A’s table tennis sessions and other courses and activities go to the website ilkleyu3a.org