Bronzed Aussies

Yes, okay so there’s been quite enough philosophising about what an honour it was to be in Udon Thani, and what an incredible journey it was to get there. Geez, anyone would think I’d made the final twelve on Australian Idol or something. So what did we actually achieve as a team while we were there?

Our first game was men’s division two doubles against Sri Lanka. This was a nice intro match, since – with due respect to Sri Lanka – they weren’t likely to be a challenge and it gave us the chance to get some court time and settle our nerves while still getting a win under our belts to start the tournament.

The next match was much more challenging, particularly in the doubles format which the Australian team was no as familiar with. Our boys fought hard but were outclassed by Cambodia, who beat us in three hard-fought sets.

Due to a rather unfortunate draw hiccup, we then played Chinese Taipei at the ridiculous time of half past one in the morning. It was a must win for us after the loss to Cambodia, but unfortunately the long day behind us hadn’t left the players with enough in the tank. We still had a great game, but went down in straight sets again. We were out of contention for doubles medals, but we’d had a great time and learned a lot about the challenging doubles format.

The following morning we played Macau in a dead rubber, which we won in straight sets. It was a nice way to finish a disappointing section in a difficult pool grouping. The final was played between Cambodia and the United States, with gold going to the USA, silver to Cambodia and bronze to Chinese Taipei and Bangladesh.

The next day brought the regu (three on three) tournament, which was a much more familiar format for Team Australia and a slightly friendlier group draw as well. Our first regu match was against Macau and once again we won in straight sets.

Our next match was a big one against first seeds Germany. While on paper they were the stronger team, we were confident going in that we had the ability to pull off an upset. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. While Australia played well and had flashes of brilliant play, the experience and consistency of the German team won through. In a frustrating result for Australia, we were beaten in straight sets.

We bounced back in a big way the following day with a confident straight sets win over Bangladesh to open, followed by a match against Nepal. On paper, and based on what we had seen during the rest of the tournament, Nepal should have been an easy victory for us. However, once again our inexperience at international level started to show, and Nepal played easily the best takraw they had played all week. What should have been a walkover ended up going to five sets, with the final set going right down the wire. We were able to put the last point away and claim the fifth set and the match, but the match could not have been any closer. Full credit to Nepal, who put up a strong and spirited fight.

The win put Australia through to the semis and a guaranteed bronze medal (The King’s Cup awards bronze medals to the losers of both semi-finals, with no need for a playoff. Isn’t that nice?), but we had plenty of fight left for the semi-final against Chinese Taipei.

The semi was certainly our most encouraging and enjoyable game of the tournament. C.Taipei were the favourites going in, but we were once again confident of staging an upset. It was another five set thriller, with the final set tipping C.Taipei’s way. Australia had to settle for bronze alongside Brazil. The final between Germany and Chinese Taipei was won by Germany.

So there you have it. Five days of nonstop takraw action, and a bronze medal for our efforts. It’s definitely been one of the craziest experiences I’ve had, and I’m looking forward to building up for the next tournament, whenever and wherever that turns out to be. In the meantime, it’s back to Australia and some sort of real life. Can’t wait for that either. Make of that what you will.

Garry with 2 Rs

Green and Gold

Growing up, I guess most Australian boys think that one day they’ll play for their country. Maybe it will be rugby, or perhaps soccer. Or maybe they’re that particular kind of crazy that gets up at three in the morning to train for the swimming squad. My preferred path for a meteoric rise to the top was through cricket. I was dead sure I was going to be the next Mark Waugh.

But as we get older, we realise that we’re not going to play for Australia; that a quiet career of lower grade social competition might be the best we can hope for. Some of us give up altogether.

And some of us get another chance, albeit through an unexpected and thoroughly obscure avenue.

I had known for a while that I was going to have the chance to play sepak takraw for Australia, and I was ready for it. I’d flown all the way out to Thailand for it and then travelled with the team to Udon Thani for the tournament. But the moment when I first put on my green and gold playing uniform still snuck up on me a bit.

I’ve always been known as being a little bit over the top in my patriotism. And that’s a fair call. I actually got chills when I slipped the uniform on and caught sight of my reflection. It was an absurdly powerful moment given it was just putting a shirt on, but I couldn’t stop grinning all morning.

But that was nothing compared to the moment I stepped onto the court and heard the announcers reading out “Representing Australia, number three, Garry Condoseres”. It seems strange, given that there are so many things that I am much better at than sepak takraw, but that was one of the proudest moments of my life, and will be for a while.

Make of that what you will.

Number three, Garry with 2 Rs

Bound for Bangkok

So no sooner had Kim and I touched down in Sydney than I was rearranging luggage and gearing up to take off again, this time bound for Bangkok. I was meeting some of my friends from Takraw Australia ahead of the King’s Cup sepak takraw world championships in Udon Thani, another city in Thailand.

Strangely enough, due to the mysterious ways that govern Jetstar, the cheapest way to get to Bangkok from Sydney was via Melbourne. It meant another long haul flight, but after the sixteen hour marathon from Dallas to Sydney, a nine hour jump from Melbourne to Bangkok was practically a walk in the park. Well… perhaps a long sit down on an uncomfortable bench with a book in the park, but the point is… I got there eventually.

As a student of world languages, I often take for granted my ability to walk into a foreign country and start picking up bits and pieces of the completely foreign language that nonetheless make a bit of sense to me. I had neglected to consider that this ability probably wouldn’t extend to languages in a different alphabet. Bangkok made me feel more like a tourist than I have for a very long time, and I hadn’t even made it out of the airport yet.

Fortunately for this idiot falang, the taxi booth operators all spoke and read English, so I was able to get a taxi out to my friends’ apartment. I didn’t get in until about ten o’clock at night after a long day of travelling, so after plonking my stuff down, we headed straight out to grab some street food and then called it a night.

The few days in Bangkok ahead of the tournament all looked remarkably similar. We would get up sometime half way through the morning and wander down to our preferred local restaurant for “muesli”. Thai style muesli comes with cornflakes, fresh fruit and condensed milk, but it’s not a terrible way to start the day. We’d generally spend what was left of the morning shopping and running any errands that needed running or sleeping a bit more and then head out towards Chula University sometime in the mid afternoon.

We’d stop by the food court of the local freaking huge shopping centre on the way for lunch and then train for a few hours with one of the local teams. It was nice to pit ourselves against some guys who really know how to play, both to appreciate how far we’ve come, and also how much more we still have to learn.

It was a handy routine to follow, particularly in a country where everything you think you know about day to day living has basically gone out the window with the alphabet. The one diversion we did take was to spend a morning being all touristy at the grand palace in Bangkok. Those guys really know how to decorate.

After four days, we’d successfully bonded as a team, avoided food poisoning (broadly) and we were ready for the trip to Udon Thani. Make of that what you will.

Garry with 2 Rs

Ocean's Eleven

After the madness of New York City, we were ready for a break, so we joined Kim’s family for a few days at her grandparents’ beach house in Ocean City, New Jersey. BY the time we got there, the house already had Kim’s grandparents, her parents, her two brothers and her one sister-in-law, so the addition of two extra bodies to the two bedroom, one bathroom house was of course just what the doctor ordered.

It didn’t matter too much, as we tended only to all be inside when we were either eating or sleeping. The rest of the time was spent enjoying the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Strangely enough the Ocean City Municipal government seems to think it’s okay to make people pay to go to the beach. As an Australian I was outraged at the very notion, but the locals assured me it was a completely normal practice. In any case, we largely ignored it as we only had three beach permits (the very cheek) between the lot of us and it didn’t stop us for a second. Viva la revolution!

We tried out boardwalks in a number of locations, including the vastly over-rated Atlantic City boardwalk. It was basically identical to the Ocean City boardwalk, but with less shops where you could buy hermit crabs.

On our last day in Ocean City we were visited by Kim’s great aunt Ruthie, who came to teach us a few things about card games. Actually, based on her success rate, I suspect she may have been making it up as she went along. Who calls a card game Pea Knuckle in the first place?

Aunt Ruthie makes ten. Ten oughta do it, don’t you think? You think we need one more? You think we need one more. Alright, we’ll get one more.

Um… after Aunt Ruthie departed we were visited by a Bulgarian aristocrat named Miroslav who had been on a pilgrimage from Stara Zagora to Barcelona and had got a bit lost. Well… very lost. We pointed him in the right direction and he… swam off into the distance. Kim and I jumped in the car instead and headed back towards Cincinnati.

Make of that what you will.




Garry with 2 Rs