THERE'S no doubting Rob Thomas - life indeed does begin again in the fourth decade of the York judo ace.

Since taking to the prestigious Masters circuit just under two years ago after several years in exile when he thought his competitive career was over, Thomas is smack in the middle of a robust and envied renaissance.

Just this year he achieved a lifetime's ambition when he competed in Japan - the spiritual headquarters of martial arts - in the World Masters championships.

Though he finished out of the medal positions, Thomas returned to York rated number six in the world, mirroring the position he ascended to in his first Masters mission in 2002.

It was a massive climax to a stirring 12 months in which he also finished number two in Britain and won gold in the Multi-European championships.

Now aged 39, and recovering from a hernia operation that KO'd him for close on eight weeks, all the enthusiasm and fervour that propelled him to Great Britain appearances and a national number one ranking almost two decades ago has been rekindled with a vengeance.

Thomas is expecting to return to training next week and may be back in the hurly-burly of the Masters' arena in the Arizona Open next month. To that end he will likely journey to Germany to train with contacts he made while competing in Japan.

But his principal target remains those World Masters championships, the taste of which have got him fired up for a third - and final crack - at the Under-40 years of age title next summer in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The judo ace enthused that there were two factors driving him towards his 40th birthday even more eager to put his body to the test.

The first was the buzz of being back in international competition, the second was the backing he landed to help to fulfil his Japanese yen.

Said Thomas: "My old enthusiasm has been rekindled again. It's been a great feeling to be back fighting internationally again, and the amount of support I have had has been amazing.

"There's been a lot of people who have shown an enormous amount of faith in me. My family and friends raised a lot of money, for which I will always be thankful, and there's also been the backing of the likes of companies such as Azlan, the Buzz Bar, Emperor's Gym and the Evening Press.

"Now I want to get back to those world championships and this time bring a medal back to York. It will be my last chance to do it in the under-40 years of age category when I will beat the deadline by about three weeks in Vienna."

Thomas' recent hernia operation - the condition flared up while gardening soon after his return from Japan where he had top medical advice monitoring the injury - has proved an outright success and he is now looking forward to resuming his rigorous training regime.

"I had the strength last year and the stamina and I aim to get back to that over the next few months," said the man who is on the way to proving that the soaring forties lie ahead.

Updated: 10:03 Saturday, October 11, 2003