Representing Australia in the annual Trans-Tasman Table Tennis tournament in Nelson, New Zealand in April 2023, Cyrus Pestonji won five medals in the over 70 age group events.
Participants from Australia and New Zealand compete in different age groups, from over 30s to over 80s, in the Trans-Tasman event. The Australian team won the rubber against New Zealand in the over 70s age group. Pestonji and his doubles partner Stephen Tai won the silver medal in their age group and in the Veterans National Championships they won two silver and two bronze medals.
Cyrus Pestonji: won medals for Australia
"Very honored to put on Australia’s green and gold (the colors of Australia’s national floral emblem — the golden wattle — green and gold have been adopted as Australia’s national sports colors) for the first time,” Pestonji conveyed to Sydney-based sports writer and author Kersi Meher-Homji who shared his accomplishments with Parsiana. "The standard of play was very high in this international competition. Thanks to my support team, especially my wife Khursheed, I was well fed and hydrated at the event which went on from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. over seven days. By the end I was pretty exhausted,” he added. His granddaughter Aria summed up his dedication to the game, "Grandpa, you are always an exceptional role model, going after what you want and not giving up.”
Born in Lahore, Pestonji had played against top level table tennis and cricket players in Pakistan before he migrated to Australia in 1981. He was considered the Pakistan sector of Punjab’s number one player in table tennis and was a member of the Pakistan table tennis team that played against Iran and Turkey.
After he settled in Australia he played grade cricket for Western Suburbs District Cricket Club in Sydney and had an opportunity to play against reputed players who later represented Australia in test matches. In table tennis too he played in district level competitions for a few years but retired due to work pressures. Following his retirement from corporate life in Australia in 2018, Pestonji has been a part of the New South Wales Veterans teams, competing in various tournaments (see "Ranking after retiring,” Zoroastrians Abroad, Parsiana, December 7-20, 2019).
Having earned his master of business administration (MBA) degree from Macquarie University 25 years ago, he has now taken to mentoring some MBA students, keeping himself busy playing table tennis and golf, and also assisting his grandchildren with their school work.