I have been walking like a zombie since yesterday. Reason: I played field hockey after a gap of 14 long years on Friday, four matches at a stretch, and my bones, muscles are aching very badly. I was all excited when I was told about the sixes hockey tournament being organised by the Kerala Wing of the Indian Social Club in Wattayah a week back.

My teammates of Team Coorg did manage to practice for 4-5 days, and I managed to sweat it out for a day, that too a day before the tournament. Although the matches were of 20 minutes duration each, it was very demanding for the players to sweat it under scorching sun. There were plenty of on field action in terms of hits, misses and falls. Many a times, I was gasping for breath, unable to run behind the ball (I go for regular walks everyday, but realized walking and running are different ball game altogether). Although, our team didn’t manage a podium finish, we still had a lot of fond moments to cherish.

Team Coorg, that is our team.

The Omani team (in yellow T-shirts) won the tournament. They had tremendous stamina and firepower.