TRIBUTES have been paid to a table tennis legend who played in the Clacton league for almost 60 years.

Brian Thiel, of Knox Road, Clacton, died suddenly on Christmas Eve, aged 80.

Brian was the Clacton and District Table Tennis League’s longest-serving Division One player, taking part in topflight action until 2007.

He won the Division One title with Nico A four times during the 1970s and was runner-up on a number of occasions.

He won just one major championship title in 1976 in the Men’s Doubles with Ken Beach, in a nail-biting final against David Binns and Rob Milne.

The same season, Brian also won the Veterans’ Singles title, a feat he repeated in 1982 and 1984.

When the league introduced a superveterans over-60s section, he took the title four times between 2001 and 2006.

Brian was also part of the legendary, record-breaking trio of Thiel, Owen and Dearman. Between 1991/92 and 2006/07, Brian, John and Colin played as a threeman team, first as St Andrew’s B and then as Walton.

Over 16 seasons, they played an incredible 319 league matches together out of a possible 322.

From April 1998 until the final match of the 2006/07 season, when the trio finally disbanded, they played together unchanged in 188 consecutive league matches.

Brian’s own personal record was just as impressive, missing just one out of 322 league matches in 16 years.

During that time, the threesome were a solid mid-tableDivision One outfit and, although they never challenged for the title, they triumphed in the Knock-Out Cup as St Andrews A in 1994 and were runners-up as Walton B in 2001.

Brian’s dedication to table tennis earned him the Bob Phillips Trophy in 1990 and he was made league vice-president in 2005.

In 1987, he hit the headlines while representing Clacton Veterans against Southend at Walton’s Red Triangle.

He and St Osyth’s Dave Higgins had just finished a doubles match when umpire Owen Ling began choking on his tongue during an epileptic fit.

Brian and Dave administered first aid, managing to get a teaspoon between the umpire’s teeth and turning him over so he could breathe.

League spokesman Tony Oswick said: “That epitomised Brian. He was one of the most pleasant, amiable and helpful people you could wish to meet,aman full of old-fashioned common sense and humanity.

“However, that was not always the impression he gave on the table tennis table when his stern face exuded intense seriousness, a seriousness that was a mask for his concentration on the game and determination to win.”

Mr Oswick said Brian had been a “great ambassador” for the sport and would be missed by everyone in the league.

He leaves wife Jill, and sons Andy, Martin and Darren. Funeral details are still to be confirmed.