Listen! I know YOU don’t think it’s a big deal, but being a ping pong champion FOUR years in a row is high up among my greatest achievements ever.
Yes, from age 10 to 14, in Abadan, in an exclusive community of a few thousand, I was the best among five, maybe six, kids in my age group.
And I’m damn proud of it dammit!
This is a picture my Abadani classmate Behnam Raihani emailed today. I was so thrilled! It shows Babak junior high school ping pong team, around 1974.
That’s Babak Mahallati on the right, then me (am I showing a peace sign?! What a dork :o), Ardeshir Ommanian and Kami Pourmomen. The guy with the glasses is our physical education teacher Mr. Jalili — what a super nice guy he was. The other guy I don’t recognize.
And yes, we were No. 1 in all of Abadan.
If anyone has a problem with that, I’ll meet you anytime, anywhere for a friendly game. Ba heeshki ham shookhi nadaaram!