‘A smile, a hug keep us going’

Hand-in-hand, the Syrian team appeared to be a closely-knit group. Having survived the mayhem back home, the team’s scrum and English speaking player Ahmed Mograbieh hoped the havoc would end soon. “Surviving any war situation is tough. We have been together, which is the best thing we can do now. Life is all about problems and these conflicts have made us close to each other. We always keep a smile on our faces, give a group hug and hold each other’s hands with a hope for things to get better,” he said adding that their motto is to live, work and keep everyone happy. 

While the civil war has been draining their energy, a last-minute change in the tournament schedule has added salt to the wounds. 

“We reached Chennai after a 30-hour journey. We flew via Muscat and Dubai and spent 18 hours in transit. After reaching Chennai, we learnt about the change in the schedule and we will be playing against the Philippines and Thailand. This has thrown all our game plans awry,” Mograbieh added. 

Having got an opportunity to play outside Syria for the first time, Mograbieh said the players are enjoying their time. “This is our first international tournament. It has been a great experience. We have learnt a lot in the short stay so far. This gives us the motivation to play a lot of international tournaments which is our dream,” the scrum added.