Monday, June 09, 2008

Today I Played Pingpong

There are so many sports I played since I was kid. One of these is pingpong. I was in elementary when I first got hold of a pingpong racket. I can still picture the place where we played and how I returned the ball to my opponent, which was similar to my badminton lob. Of course I lost that game.

But I improved my game three years later when a neighbor bought a pingpong table and some kids from the neighborhood were lining up to play. My neighbors just designed and made their own rackets. I bought the cheapest one. There was a time when an adult ruled the table. But after a few months, another kid ruled. Then I had my time too of being the best in the neighborhod.

But in school, there were other better players. So I was not able to make the cut for the intrams. Besides, I was already a badminton player.

Last month, my wife's uncle bought a pingpong table hoping to encourage his son to play the game. He used to be a mainstay of the pingpong team when he was in the Philippine airforce. His father and brothers also played pingpong when they were young. But his son prefers the computer. Uncle asked my wife if I play pinpong. When my wife told me about it, I immediately bought a new racket.

Then the rivalry began. In our previous encounters, I usually win by large margins, 10-2, 11-3 but today, he was even ahead 8-6. Good thing I made some adjustments and took the next five games. So today, the score is 11-8. At 57, uncle is still a very good player, and I cannot keep up with his stamina. I have to call a time out a couple of times to rest and drink water.

After the game, he told me to return next Sunday. It would be another hell of a pingpong battle next time.

13 comments:

zherwin said...

ahh, pingpong is one game i am missing. we used to frequent a house of a college classmate who's landlord has two pingpong tables. unlike you, i was just an average player. :)

Anonymous said...

ni hao kuya! "pingpong" really is my favorite sport, just so you know, i made it to the Palarong Pambansa 1998. hehehe. btw, when i opened your blog, i was smiling reading the title of your latest entry. very interesting! i actually miss the said sport.i haven't found some good ones here in CDO. i preferred not to play than be playing with the untitled ones. haha. anyhoo, PF4 racket would be great for the noob ones. hehehe. i'm looking forward to be playing "pingpong" with you, kuy.


Panyang Balani

Anonymous said...

Ahh, now competition begins!
Exciting. I like to play pingpong too but I am not very good at it.

Lazarus said...

zherwin, average player lang din ako. di nga lang nakasali sa intrams eh!

phanyang, kanus-a ka balik ug blog? hanep diay ka modula ug pingpong? I remembered one time I played against female college varsity players. If not for their errors, i wouldn't have scored.

leah, pang exercise na lang ang mga competitions na ganito. these are enjoying competiting with family members.

Anonymous said...

hi kuy, i'l probably be blogging again next month. Guess what my first entry would be? hehehe. i'l be in Cebu by September kuy, dula nya ta together with other bloggers who are also good at pingpong. hehehe. (naa jud ang good) haha.


cheers.

panyang

Anonymous said...

kuy, i forgot to gave you some tips in choosing a good table tennis racket. for a superb player like you, buy a customized racket rather than a ready-made one. i would prefer butterfly tackiness Chop-II rubbers (black and red) or a Yasaka Mark V . Pwede sad and black rubber nmo Kuy Tackiness or Yasaka Mark V dayon ang red rubber nimo kay Stiga Destroyer Long Pips or Pimples. If naa ka ani kuy, power na kaayo ka. Hehehe. ang akong racket ron kay PF4 nalang kay nawa akong pinakakusgan nga racket and that was 7 years ago. hehehe. Mura nako ug beginner ron kuy. hehehe. btw, basta mao gani ni nga topic d jud ko mahutdan ug isulti. haha.



panyang

Lazarus said...

panyang, i only know a few racket brands in pingpong. badminton pa hinuon, daghan gyud ko masulti.

haha. sige, i'll take note of your suggestions. uncle bought a butterfly racket. mine was a german brand i could not even pronounce

Anonymous said...

kuy! OMG! i just re-read my comments, to my surprise, naa ko wrong gramming. hahaha. wrong grammar ko kuy, hehehe. kanang " be playing be playing dha" hehehe. unsay "be?" hahaha. taka lang ko da. hehehe. sorry kuy and sa lahat ng mga avid fans ni kuya L. hehehe. pasensiya na po tao lang po ako nagkakamali. hehehe. anyway, kuy, asa pwede magdula pingpong sa Cebu? gusto ko dula pagbalhin nko dha dala napud paniwang ba. hahaha.


panyang

Abaniko said...

I used to play pingpong in high school and college. In fact, I played in a regional sports fair in high school and won third place. Nice game. :)

Anonymous said...

W O W! u play pingpong! awesome...i really admire people playing pingpong..i'd love to play it given the chance, but i am really not into it...so i just cheer for those who are good at it..hehe..i play archery. i got hooked with it even though i got inflamed elbows after playing it for the first time..:p

just got back from a longish hiatus. how r u? got an award for u

Lazarus said...

panyang, u can find players and pingpong tables for rent sa YMCA Cebu.

Abaniko, you must be good too! i don't think i can match up against you and panyang!

des, archery is i think, an exciting sport. I never got the chance to try it.

jho said...

Pingpong. Dati naglalaro ako niyan. Siguro mga 12 years old palang ako nun. May pingpong table kasi yung kapitbahay namin.

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha ping pong, i remember many years back when i was in college, it was one of the games in my PE. and i heard from my youngest son that ping pong was his 4th quarter PE in grade 5 last year.