Holden’s readyto playboss

Gavin Rumgay proved he is still more than capable of competing at the top table of world sport.

The Perth professional has been reflecting on making it to the semi-final of the World Championship of Ping Pong.

His tournament run at the Alexandra Palace in London eventually came to a halt following a defeat to German Alexander Flemming.

But on his bronze medal joy, Rumgay, who has competed at the Commonwealth Games, said:“It’s absolutely my greatest achievement.”

Full story page 47. Photo by Matchroom Sport

New Luncarty manager Robbie Holden admits it’s been a whirlwind couple of days as he gets set to take charge of his first match.

Holden has moved into the hotseat at Brownlands Park to replace Jon Kelly, who has stepped down due to work commitments but will remain involved with the club.

It’s a debut managerial gig for the former Jeanfield Swifts striker and he took charge of training for the first time on Tuesday evening.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind few days,” Holden (35) admitted. “Jon announced on Saturday that he thought the time was right.

“He felt that it would benefit me and the players to get in now in order to give us a chance before the season’s out to work on a few things.

“It came out of the blue but I’m excited to get started.”

Holden, who has been signed as a player for Luncarty this season, begins his reign with a home North Super League match against Kirriemuir Thistle.

“I made a decision that, at the end of the season, I would be hanging up the boots,” Holden said. “It’s the perfect transition for me really.

“I’ll only play now if we’re short. We’ve probably let ourselves down a bit and have underachieved when you look at the quality we have got.

“It’s a massive game for us on Saturday and we need to go on a run. Getting up the table is the plan for the rest of the season.”

Luncarty have already tied down Dan Walker, Michael Patton, Richard Henderson, James Yates, Fraser Mills, Kyle Green and Callum Kirkaldy for next season.

“There’s a couple others we’re talking to this weekend which should get done,” added Holden. “I’m hoping to have the majority of the squad signed in the next few weeks.

“Then I can look at areas where we want to bring in some competition.”