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.