Dan Ives and Lloyd Gregory are table tennis world record holders after staging the longest rally ever recorded – while also raising thousands for charity.

The duo kept up an uninterrupted rally of 13 hours, 36 minutes and 36 seconds, beating the previous record of 11:50.36 by an hour and 46 minutes.

The Bristol duo pulled off the amazing feat at the PingPod venue in the city and, as well as the pride that comes with the achievement, they have also raised more than £6,500 for a cause close to their heart – Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity.

The charity were a huge help and support to Dan and his wife when they lost their daughter Lily Rae in 2020. Since then, he has tried to complete fundraising initiatives every year in her memory.

“Physically, it’s tough. It’s very repetitive,” said Dan, who live-streamed the attempt on the TableTennisDaily website. “You’re going to quickly get an ache in your body, whether it’s your shoulder or arm.

“Mentally it’s hard. The amount of times in your mind, you’re like ‘shall we just stop?'”

He said the hardest part was when they got close to the old record: “It was so nerve-wracking. I was shaking – I could barely hold my bat.”

Lloyd added: “As soon as we hit the record, I felt the tension release and the pain kind of eased, my bat felt a little bit lighter. It was a relief.”