[WMG people] vol.01 It was tennis that connected me and my wife. – Mr. Kazuo OSAKI / tennis

2021.01.04

[WMG people] vol.01 It was tennis that connected me and my wife. – Mr. Kazuo OSAKI / tennis

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Interview highlights of the World Masters Games participants, picked out by the edit department.
Today, we would like to introduce Mr. Kazuo OSAKI from Kobe city, who participated in rehearsal of the World Masters Games 2021 Kansai tennis matches from Monday 25th to Thursday 28th, November, 2019. He was the eldest in the male participants from Hyogo prefecture, 77 years old! After an hour and a half long battle, Mr. Osaki won the second place in the category of “Male, over 75 years old”.
(Interviewed by Naomi SHIMIZU, a staff of public relations for Hyogo prefecture / Produced by The Hyogo prefecture executive committee of the World Masters Games 2021 Kansai)

ー I improved little by little after I turned 60 years old. ー

SHIMIZU: How long have you been playing tennis?
OSAKI: I started playing seriously when I got older, as I was working until 60 years old. I didn’t play seriously when I was at school, and started playing when I became a working professional. I started traveling around Japan for competitions, like I’m douing today, after I turned 60. I wanted to be really good at playing tennis, so I played and played after I retired. Since then, I feel I am playing tennis which I wished for.

― By the way, are you going to participate in the World Masters Games? ―

SHIMIZU: Are you going to participate in the World Masters Games?
OSAKI: Well, I’m thinking of it. I thought 15,000 yen (Note: The participation fee for non-Japan residents is 24,000 yen and includes exclusive transportation passes.) was quite expensive but, I can select multiple disciplines for the same price, right?

SHIMIZU: Yes, you can participate in up to 5 disciplines for 15,000 yen. (Note: Comes with a participant kit; a T-shirt, a back pack and a towel.)
OSAKI: My daughter’s gone to UK and getting married, so I visited UK from time to time. I went to a tennis club in London and played together. It was an experience of interacting with people by playing as one.Though I couldn’t speak the language very well, we all enjoyed playing tennis. It was good, indeed.
SHIMIZU: People from various countries are coming to the World Masters Games, there may be amazing players.
OSAKI: Some may start drinking beer before playing.

― It was tennis that connected me and my wife after all ―

OSAKI: Actually, my wife passed away in April. It was tennis that connected me and my wife after all.
We used to go far to play tennis. Well, after she started fighting against diseases, we were like “Let’s just go to the competition nearby, not travelling far.”. When she got unwell, she would retire in the middle of the tournament.
SHIMIZU: But tennis was the thing to connect you two.
OSAKI: I was shocked when she passed away, but what healed me was my family and tennis. Though it’s only 7 months since I lost my wife, people say “Mr. Osaki, you’re looking better.”. It gave me a power.

To read the whole article, please go to “the website of The Hyogo prefecture executive committee of the World Masters Games 2021 Kansai”, “vol.01 It was tennis that connected me and my wife. – Mr Kazuo OSAKI / tennis –”.
(By clicking the link tennis that connected me and my wife, you will be directed to external website. Please set the language to English as shown below.)