The biggest star in British table tennis went back to his roots recently, joining the fun at the Wandsworth club that steered him away from a life of street violence.

Darius Knight, currently ranked number three in the UK, was an underachieving 12-year-old on the fringes of gang culture when he stumbled across the York Gardens table tennis club.

Nurtured under the careful guidance of club founder Tom Draper, Knight’s talent would take him around the world, earn him a sponsorship with Fred Perry and give him the chance to compete in his home town at the 2012 Olympics.

“In my opinion, Tom deserves an MBE because he’s put in so much work over the years” said Darius, 20. “But he’s gone through a lot and he’s sacrificed a lot. He’s had kids die in gang violence, he’s gone through abuse, he’s gone through threats, because when we were younger we’d go crazy.

“We were just urban kids who did what we want, when we want.”

Now based in Sheffield and training up to nine hours a day, Knight admits he could earn more money dealing drugs in south London but says he has no regrets about his choice of career.

“When I walk around south London if I’ve got my iPod or my phone I know nobody’s going to rob me. With me there’s respect. People know how hard I’ve worked and they take their hat off before anything. I couldn’t have chosen anything better.”

Originally based in Battersea, York Gardens Table Tennis Club now meets at Fircroft Primary School in Tooting. Club founder Draper says it is always a pleasure to welcome his most famous alumnus.

“We don’t see him too often because he’s all over the world, but when he comes back to London he pops in to see us," he said.

“He’s an inspiration to the kids. They all look up to him and think ‘Well, one day I could be like that’.”