A new film called Ping Pong follows 9 players from around the world as they travel to Inner Mongolia to compete in the over-80s World Table Tennis Championships. The most astounding participant in the documentary is unquestionably Dorothy DeLowe, a 100-year-old Australian table tennis player, the oldest known competitor in the world, and a veteran of the World Championships. Having lost her husband and her daughter within 18 months of each other, she attributes table tennis to helping her get over it.
We also meet Les D’Arcy, an 89-year-old British man who, perhaps owing to his active lifestyle, seems anything but that age. Contrasting him is good friend Terry Donlon, who we first see in hospital facing a grim cancer prognosis, with the illness affecting his bones and inhibiting his play. Others have their own afflictions, but one thing is consistent throughout – to live without table tennis would, in fact, be death to them.
This is an uplifting and inspiring film about not allowing the size of your number to limit you ! Read more about it here http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jul/01/91-year-old-ping-pong-champion?newsfeed=true