7 Jun 2014

49-year-old named for Games

11:48 am on 7 June 2014

49-year-old Peter Jackson has been selected in the New Zealand men's table tennis team for next month's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Jackson, who is based in France, is a 3-time Olympian and won a bronze medal in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

20-year-old Teng Teng Liu is the top ranked player in the team. He moved to New Zealand from China four years ago and became eligible for the national team this year.

The other members of the team are Shane Laugesen, who competed at the 2002 and 2006 games and first timers John Cordue and Phillip Xiao.

The team will gather in France, where both Jackson and Laugesen who play in professional leagues are based, prior to their arrival in Glasgow.

New Zealand has won four Commonwealth Games medals, all at Manchester 2002 which was the first time the sport featured on the programme. Four-time Olympian Li Chunli contributed to each of the one gold, one silver and two bronze medals won

She retired from the sport after the Athens Olympics in 2004 but has returned to competitive play in 2012 and heads a strong bid for Games selection by the women's team, to be considered by the New Zealand Olympic Committee next week.