A sporty weekend

There are times where I just can't help thinking that for someone whom has passed the mid-thirties mark, I am as fit as a horse. My weekend is usually filled with sporting activities. Usually, it's badminton on Saturday with my family (wife and sons included), and tennis on Sunday with my tennis buddies.

Yesterday, I was playing badminton with my nephew (who coincidentally celebrated his 19th birthday yesterday - Happy Birthday SIB) and two of his early 20's friends. I must admit, I was nervous at first after seeing how young and energetic they are. In my mind, I reckon the match shall be over within minutes. To my surprise, I was the one running circles around them. Throughout the match, I was giving them a tough time with my smash, backhand drive, shot placement and tremendous netplay. I don't mean to brag, but I really can't remember whether I have ever been this good even during my young and healthier days. In the end, I won both matches after playing in rubber sets.

Today, in my tennis match, it was no exception. We had a match between me and my usual partner, Ozor and my other good buddies, Koosh and BroMat. When it comes to tennis, I always feel inferior compared to Koosh and Ozor (Koosh, Ozor and me were schoolmates). Koosh is well known for his consistent serves and volley game. He was a school player during our schooldays. Whilst Ozor has the most stinging backhand and service. As for me, I am a bit erratic. There are times when my serves was good but my backhand was crappy and there are days when it was the other way around. But most of the time, I was kind of crappy in both departments. I usually count on my forehand to hit winners. Knowing that I have a weak serve, I always avoided playing volley, choosing to happily pound the ball from baseline.

Anyway, back to my tennis match, Koosh and BroMat make strong pairings. Both of them are good in their serves and volleys. In the past, we have never been able to beat them. But I guess things are different today. From the very beginning, I have decided to play it differently. I was more offensive at the net. In fact, there were occasions where I played overhead volleys (a shot which I have never been able to master ever since I picked up tennis!). I was very pumped up through out the match and I guess my energy rubbed on Ozor as well, as he too produce some amazing shots throughout the entire match. I also serve aces twice. The match was very tight. In the end, we won the match in a tiebreaker. When I walk over to the net to shake their hands, I feel that I have conquered my inferiority towards Koosh and Ozor. I felt that I have arrived in their league, finally.

I began to realise that I may have conquered my inferiority a bit too much when I began to imagine of challenging Federer in a Grand Slam!