As Time Goes By

During my undergraduate days, 3 close friends and I invented a new game.

My university had an indoor sports facility that featured a TT table and a badminton court (usually unoccupied since shuttlecocks are well beyond a student's budget as the feathers break too quickly). The line for the TT table was always long and one day, tired of waiting for our turn, the four of us invented Tenniton. A game that is played on a badminton court, with a (plastic) table tennis ball, featuring lawn tennis rules. It quickly became our favourite sport and we spent almost every evening playing for hours till dinner time.

And we got really good at it - Sravan was as steady as a rock, Anand (the best TT player amongst us all) was able to produce exaggerated spin and bounce with his top and side spins, Verma (a Boris Becker fan) was a relentless serve-and-volleyer, and I was able to control the ball better than any of them and (in those days) was able to run down almost every shot.

I can count on one finger the number of times I lost a set in all the years we played the game. When it came to Tenniton, I was the undisputed, undefeated, and (unfortunately) undocumented #1 player in the whole world.

I haven't played the game since I left that place, but I have often thought of it. Everytime a player is said to be "in a zone" or is talked about in "GOAT" discussions, I have flashbacks to tenniton. Jordan, Tendulkar, Federer, Woods, Schumacher - I know exactly how it must feel to dominate a sport, knowing that on that given day no matter what new wrinkles an opponent throws at you, you have an answer for it. It is a feeling like no other. You do feel invincible.

Oh, how I wish I could play it, play it again for old time's sake...