EDitorial ± 22-Sep-2005

Day 22 === The Tiptop Twentysecond

First game of the new table tennis season this evening. Arrived to find the opposition warming up and exchanging shots that we could only dream of: that's what happens when you get promoted. Lost the first three games, and it looked like we'd be doing well to get nil. Situation slowly improved as time wore on and we finished as 7-3 losers.

One of their team was a lad in his teens who coached himself between points, either chastising or praising his own shots. He was very much up for it and hit the ball wham bam thump, at one point knocking it through a curtain and out of the open window. Ker-pow!

At the other extreme was a slightly older lad who had a repertoire of canny well-placed shots. He was hindered only by his multiple hip replacements, having started playing in the 1940s and now aged 77. Over the night he won two out of his three games. I kid you not.