The first Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1982 and attracted over 400 entries.
Notably, the Championships had no official status but brought together veteran players from many parts of the world. They enjoyed the matches whilst renewing old friendships as well as enjoying the social gathering of participants and families.
A World Veteran Championship is an activity which fully expresses the principles of the Swaythling Club International. The SCI willingly gave the Championships its patronage and presented perpetual trophies for all the singles events. A committee was formed to include members of the Gothenburg promotion team and the SCI to organise future Championships to be held every two years.
The Swaythling Club International is proud that the World Veteran Championships have become a most sought after and popular event amongst the table tennis community.
A total of 19 World Veteran Championships have been staged, the most recent being in Las Vegas in the United States in 2018.
Players who have competed in 12 or more World Veteran Championships receive a special diploma.
As and from the 2023 World Veteran Championships in Oman the tournament will be under the jurisdiction of the International Table Tennis Federation.
| Year | Venue | Entry | Halls | Special Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Gothenburg (SWE) | 400 | Unofficial | |
| 1984 | Helsinki (FIN) | 451 | Unofficial | |
| 1986 | Rimini, (ITA) | 1,100 | ||
| 1988 | Zagreb (CRO) | 1,650 | 3 | First W80 category (four entries) |
| 1990 | Baltimore (USA) | 1,100 | 1 | 1st WVC staged outside Europe |
| 1992 | Dublin (IRL) | 1,300 | 3 | Held in charming Royal Dublin Society |
| 1994 | Melbourne (AUS) | 1,800 | A magnificent Royal Exhibition Building | |
| 1996 | Lillehammer (NOR) | 1,950 | 3 | 1994 Winter Olympic Village – SCI software used |
| 1998 | Manchester (ENG) | 1,400 | 1 | Prior to event official trial run team event organised |
| 2000 | Vancouver (CAN) | 1,850 | 4 | 36 players taking part in all ten events received an award |
| 2002 | Luzern (SUI) | 2,750 | 3 | |
| 2004 | Yokohama (JPN) | 2,500 | 1 | Large Hall- 1st WVC in Asia- new age group 85+ was introduced |
| 2006 | Bremen (GER) | 3,650 | 2 | Record numbers, almost 14,000 matches |
| 2008 | Rio de Janeiro (BRA) | 1,400 | 2 | First time in Latin America |
| 2010 | Hohhot (CHN) | 2,100 | 4 | Oldest participant Mrs. Dorothy de Low, Australia (became 100 years old a few months after the Championships). Also 12 player who had |
| 2012 | Stockholm (SWE) | 3,350 | 3 | 66 Countries – a record number |
| 2014 | Auckland (NZL) | 1,638 | 1 | 57 Countries |
| 2016 | Alicante & Elche (ESP) | 4,510 | 1 | Record entry and number of countries, 68 (15,504 games), a new age category 90 years + was introduced |
| 2018 | Las Vegas (USA) | 3,493 | 1 | Record number of countries, 92 and new categories introduced 40-45, 45-49, 50-54 and 55-59 |
| 2023 | Muscat (OMA) | 1,181 | 1 | First time in Middle East, mixed doubles introduced |