Ping Pong (PG)

 

Anthony Quinn
Thursday 05 July 2012 18:00 EDT
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What a heartwarmer. Documentarists Hugh and Anson Hartford have uncovered an improbable truth about growing old: you don't have to retire from life, or even from sport.

The film, following a handful of octogenarian competitors as they head to China for the Over-80s World Table Tennis Championships, recounts some amazing stories. Lisa, an 85-year-old naturalised American, was born in Vienna, fought the Nazis with the French Underground and won the Croix de Guerre, to go with her shelf-loads of tournament medals ("My endorphins go berserk after a good game"). She's a mere stripling compared with Australian Dorothy, an object of adoration still playing at 101. Bravest of all is Terry from Stockport, an 82-year-old with ruined lungs and prostate cancer yet absolutely determined to compete in China. "Inspirational" hardly covers it.

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