A moment that changed me: A WhatsApp message about a little-known sport made me an unlikely celebrity in Japan (opens in new tab)

I’d always wanted to represent my country at something, so when I learned about Mölkky, I got a team togetherIt was December 2023 and I was searching in the attic for Christmas decorations when my phone pinged. I pulled it out of my pocket and found a WhatsApp message from my son who was backpacking in Australia. The message read, simply: “You might want to take a look at this” – it was accompanied by a short video clip.The footage was grainy – it was night-time somewhere in Queensland and th...