World Veterans Rankings: US Players Shine at Start of 2020
(By Steve Hopkins)
With the World Veterans Tour now in full swing worldwide, the ITTF publishes regular Veterans Rankings. Ranking categories are by age with 40 being the youngest and 80 being the oldest.
In the Men’s Veterans Rankings, the Over 80 age tier is led by Canada’s Zhou Wanfang with USA’s Bowie Martin in third. American’s John Schultz and Marks Shapiro are ranked No. 7 and No. 8. Three Americans also make the Top 10 in the Over 75 age tier, as Leung Che Him, Valeriy Goncharov, and Stuart Lesser (ranked No. 4, 6, and 7.
The Over 70 age tier includes Americans Dell Sweeris (No. 3), Changping Duan (No. 5), Jeffrey Swersky (No. 8), and Dana Hanson (No. 10). USA Hall of Famer David Sakai also appears at No. 12. USA’s Li Yuxi leads the world in the Over 65 age tier. Other Americans in the Top 10 include Randy Hou (No. 6), and Chu Bin (No. 10). In the Over 60 age tier, two Americans made the top 10: Santos Shih (No. 5), and Gregg Robertshaw (No. 10).
In the Over 50 age tier, Igor Shulkin (No. 3) and Robert Shahnazari (No. 7) each appear in the Top 10. The top American in the Over 40 age tier is Luis Sujo (No. 20).
In the Women’s Rankings, Americans Jane Pang and Chien Sieh are 2nd and 3rd in the Over 80 age tier. The same two are number 3 and 5 in the Over 75 age tier and they are joined by Americans Danuta Andrzejewska and Gail Kendall who are currently tied for 7th.
USA has positions 2, 3, and 4 in the Over 70 age tier. Those slots are held by Si Cheong, Connie Sweeris, and Sanae Hirshler. Donna Sakai (No. 9) is also in the Top 10 in this category. USA’s Liu Xiaoying is first in the Over 65 age tier. The Over 60 age tier Top 10 includes four Americans: Patricia Benitez (No. 1), Gloria Cadavid (No. 3), Yvonne Smart (No. 6), and Lisa Huang (No. 8).
Lily Yip holds the top position in the Over 50 age tier. The top Americans in the Over 40 age tier are Haripriya Chinnaswamy and Ionna Papadimitriou who are both tied for No. 13.
With Americans in at least one of the top 3 spots in six of seven women’s age tiers and four of the seven men’s age tiers, the USA has become a force in the World Veterans Tour. Whether these are great players who have endured, or solid players who are in great shape (or both), the sport continues to be popular among all ages in this country.
Go to Veterans Rankings for full results.
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