True to its intentions, the ITTF World Veterans Tour is keeping our most distinguished players in the loop. After its inaugural tournament this August in Shenzhen, China, the novel, if long overdue, tour enjoyed a successful September stop in Townsville, Australia before finding its way to sunny Florida. There, in the celebrated Broward Table Tennis Club, veterans of all striped converged to battle for the gold. The opportunity was not lost on Lily Yip, the USATT Hall of Famer who reached the Women's Singles Over 50 semifinals in Shenzhen. Making the trip from her home club in New Jersey, Yip racked up a ton of WVT points in various events. Notably, she won the Women's Singles 50-59 event over Canada's Hui Huang, with whom she also partnered to win the Women's Doubles 40-59. Other USATT Hall of Fame members in action included Dell and Connie Sweeris (pictured), who added the Mixed Doubles 70-74 gold medals to their vast collection. Connie also won the Women's Singles, 60+ event. Dell was crowned Men's Singles 70-74 champion, while also netting the Men's Doubles gold in the same demographic, partnered with fellow USATT Hall of Famer David Sakai. While the American legends made the most of their home-court advantage, there remain two more stops on the 2019 tour where they can test their mettle: Doha, Qatar in November and Cardiff, Wales in December.

More at ITTF