Featured in this newsletter are exciting divisional happenings, The "Double D's" US Table Tennis Hall of Fame induction, Peakapong Qualifiers, and more!

November 2025 News

Celebrating the "Double D's' aka David Del Vecchio Induction into US Table Tennis Hall of Fame

Celebrating the "Double D’s” aka David Del Vecchio Induction into US Table Tennis Hall of Fame

NCTTA and the USA table tennis community proudly honor David Del Vecchio, affectionately known as the “Double D’s,” as he is officially nominated and inducted into the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame. This moment represents the decades of dedication, leadership, and passion for the sport—on and off the table.

Del Vecchio’s contributions span far beyond competition. Known for his sharp organizational mind (and wit) and his off the table video live streaming prowess, David started as a college table tennis athlete at the University of Virginia and from there grew to love the sport. After graduating from UVA he was searching still to be involved with the sport and via a team and got involved with NCTTA and video production. David went on to assist not only NCTTA in this area, but others like USA Table Tennis, Joola and more.

The induction ceremony was beautifully presented by NCTTA VP, Joseph Wells, whose thoughtful and somewhat sardonic remarks captured both the respect and admiration the community holds for Del Vecchio. Wells highlighted David’s character, his trademark humility, and the countless hours he has poured into live streaming and video production (an area he knew very little about originally!)

The event—organized by the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame organization—paid tribute to Del Vecchio’s long-standing service and the legacy he continues to build. Surrounded by peers, friends, and fellow contributors to the sport, David accepted the honor with the same modest grace that has defined his career.

Congratulations to David “Double D’s” Del Vecchio and a big thanks to all of the other inductees as well as Sean O’Neill and the rest of the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame organization for their work at making this possible!

(Featured above is David "Double D's" Del Vecchio at the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony!)

Peakapong Qualifiers in Michigan, New England and Florida

NCTTA’s newest partner Peakapong held 3 qualifiers recently and a number of collegiates were involved.

NCTTA’s very own, Florida Division Director, Chris Mar designed the Peakapong Division awards and serves as the liaison to Peakapong. Mar states that he is super happy about the division directors who took the opportunity to host this event.

These events are DIRECT qualifiers to the 2026 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships, where the National Collegiate Champion will be crowned!

The winners and qualifiers for the 2026 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships are as follows:

South Region:

1. Osvaldo Pelaez (UCF)

2. Livia Belem Rangel De Carvalho (UCF)

3. Loi Park (UF)

4. Wesley Underwood (UCF)

Northeast Region:

1. Jinyi Wei (Duke)

2. Daniel Zhao (Brown)

3. Risheetha Bhagawatula (Brown)

4. Qihao Lin (Northeastern)

West Region:

1. Lynette Chan (Stanford)

2. Diego Seligman-Tovar (Stanford)

3. Ian Perez (Stanford)

(Featured above are the Peakapong winners from the FL division)

NCTTA News to Not Miss!

South Dakota Mines Making a Name in Rocky Mountain Division

The NCTTA Rocky Mountain division is an area of NCTTA generally occupied by schools from Utah and Colorado, however recently another school from a state that is underrepresented has risen to the peak. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (South Dakota Mines for short) is #1 in the NCTTA Rocky Mountain Division, going undefeated in Fall division play. South Dakota Mines is led by the Assante brothers, but specifically Gian Assante who holds the highest rating in the division.

We will check in after the Spring to see if Rocky Mountain will crown a new champion or not!

(Featured above is the South Dakota Mines Team)

New Kids on the Block Make an Impression

Prior to this Fall Division tournament in SoCal West, Cal Tech’s fame came from being mentioned in the hit TV Series, Big Bang Theory, but watch out because they are the school to beat in NCTTA. Cal Tech went undefeated, besting SoCal Powerhouse UCLA. Cal Tech, helmed by former Youth Italian Champion Francesco Calisto, a current PhD student in Physics, led the Tech to a win by going undefeated himself.

Victor Xie, the highest seed in the tournament from Cal Poly SLO said

“He (Francesco) just spawned in Caltech.” Xie lost to Calisto as well.

We will be following Tech and Calisto, but until then, what an impression! As they say in Italy,

Bravo!

(Featured in pic is Cal Tech standout Francesco Calisto)

More NCTTA Happenings!

New Division in NCTTA Yields New School Leader

New England area (Boston basically) is almost the birthplace of NCTTA. NCTTA’s roots are in this geographical area with the start of the LNITT (organization that preceded NCTTA) growing out of this area, so it is no surprise that another division grew. Introducing the Central New England Division coordinated by MIT and Harvard Grad, Jingting Lin!

The division is made up of UMass Lowell, University of Vermont, Harvard and Northeastern. Harvard is generally the school to beat, but this year Northeastern has some magic up their sleeves with a courageous 3-1 win over the perennial title winners of Harvard. Harvard is led by Hong Kong international, Kelly Yen so don’t count them out, as she is a fighter and her team is in lockstep with her!

Check out NCTTA division tournaments in January/February to see who will have the Central New England Division title!

(Team pic of Central New England Division)

NCTTA’s Kagin Lee Become New ITTF Rules Committee Member

By Michael Reff

Press Committee Chair

Congratulations are in order to NCTTA’s very own Kagin Lee, who recently became a member of the ITTF rules committee. Prior to this position, he had served 10 years on the organization’s equipment committee.

For NCTTA, Kagin is the Ratings Committee chair as well as NCTTA’s representative on the USATT board.

Which leads us to give additional kudos to USATT CEO’s Virginia Sung, who also acquired a new ITTF position as Vice President.

NCTTA is very proud to work with these two deserving table tennis figures who are now making waves globally in our favorite Olympic Sport.

(pic of Kagin Lee)

Pacific Northwest Divisionals Highlights Youth Table Tennis

By Michael Reff

Press Committee Chair

There were an abundance of divisionals this month for college table tennis, but something truly magical happened in the Pacific Northwest Divisional, owing largely in part to Angela Guan’s initiative and NCTTA sponsor Paddle Palace’s support.

Guan, an elite table tennis player who has graciously given back in multiple volunteer roles, one of which being NCTTA’s PNW divisional director, was able to negotiate with Paddle Palace for them not to charge a fee for hosting the event. In exchange, Paddle Palace asked that their junior teams be able to participate in this typically college-exclusive event.

Guan obliged, and a sort of interscholastic ping pong diplomacy arose, with “3 junior teams, including one women’s team, with our 7 college teams!”

Guan said the division became so large that they “actually ended up splitting into 2 subdivisions.”

These junior teams competed against the Coed B and Women’s teams, and Guan hopes that they will be “inspired to keep playing TT.”

NCTTA celebrates this exemplary, friendly, and competitive clash of the table tennis generations and sincerely hopes that more such events will occur in the future!

To check out the latest results of all the divisionals that have occurred, please click here:

https://www.nctta.org/content/results

(Team pic of PNW divisional at Paddle Palace Club)

College Pong for Life