David Zapatka
David Zapatka competed in the World Veteran Table Tennis Championships in Las Vegas June 18-24. This is an international event attended by 5,045 table tennis players from 99 countries. This was the first time in 38 years the WVC has been held in the USA. As table tennis is much more popular in Europe and Asia, less than one-fifth of the participants were from the U.S. The format was Giant Round Robin Singles Monday, Giant Round Robin Doubles Tuesday, off Wednesday and Thursday – Sunday single elimination main draw events in both Singles and Doubles.
David competed with his long-term doubles partner Dale Boswell from Springfield, Missouri, in the 65-69 age division. Although they were very proud to represent the USA in this international event, the competition was too strong, and they were eliminated from Singles Thursday and Doubles Friday. Both said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and loved watching world champions from past years compete.