First day of match. I was umpiring the game Brunei vs Maldives. It was quite an exciting game especially towards the last quarter last few minutes. Eventually they drew 26 vs 26. Incidents happened, I fell down at the first couple of minutes and sprained my ankle. I got up immediately and continued the game despite the fact that I knew inside my heart it was quite a bad sprained this time. Then near the end of the first quarter, another incident occurred due to the beep buzzer. I thought it was the end of the quarter while it was still 25 seconds left. I had a really shit quarter and felt so upset to start my first game so poorly in this tournament like this. I took sometimes to adjust myself and just told myself to forget about the first quarter, so that I could move on for the remaining game and got myself back on track and performed what I could. Eventually I managed to do it. I believe I have grown stronger as Julie said. It was worrying, but I settled nicely afterwards. I could have dragged on and had a bad game but I didn’t let that happen. It could have been disastrous. I would have my tears running badly after the game in the past, but I held this back today. It’s a good sign indeed.
Having such an interesting start of my tournament here, I really needed some comfort honestly. I really wanted him to be here with me, know what I’m going through and support me right here, tell me that I’ll be fine and I’m doing a great job already. But at the same time, I don’t want him to worry too much because I got to grow and learn the lesson and move on myself. I just want him to know something did happen, but I’ll be fine and I know he’ll be supporting me in his heart over the ocean. So I have the faith and the power to keep working for the remaining week before I can meet him and tell him everything I’ve gone through. I also don’t want my umpiring stop right after the first game here. It’s just the beginning. I will stay put and run hard and umpire hard till the last minute with the treatment and help from Physiotherapist of HK team. Then happily be received by him at the airport sharing good news on Sep 1. =) What a wonderful experience to start with. It makes this trip unforgettable.
