Exhausted but still fighting, PH men’s squash team claims SEA Games silver

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The Philippine men’s squash team was unable to end its stirring run to the final with a gold after it succumbed to Singapore, 2-1, to settle for the silver medal in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games late on Tuesday night, August 29, at the National Squash Centre here.

Playing the final a day after an emotional semifinal upset over host Malaysia, the Philippine team admitted being drained from the dramatic win and generally exhausted from competing in several other squash events in the last couple of days.

“‘Yung team talaga nila malakas kasi marami rin sila. Ang dami naming events eh tapos apat lang kami naglaro,” said Robert Garcia. “So bugbog mula doubles, ako lima nilaro ko, so sila may reserve. Kami paubos na pero binigay pa rin namin lahat. Halos hindi kami nakatulog eh, ni-review namin lahat.”

(Their team is stronger because they have a lot of players. There were many events and only 4 of us played. So we’ve been battered since the doubles, I played in 5 events, and they had reserves. We were drained but we still gave it our all. We couldn’t sleep because we reviewed everything.)

Singapore’s Pang Ka Hoe set the tone early in the first match against Reymark Begornia, who was blown out, 11-1, 11-3, 11-6.

“Siguro pressure kasi first time kong maglaro sa SEA Games and makarating sa finals,” Begornia said. “Medyo nawala, kaya sobrang sorry sa team. Siguro kung nagawa ko ‘yung mga movements ko ng maayos, kung na-feel ko ‘yung court, siguro magbabago ‘yung game. Siguro magkakaroon ako ng rhythm.”

(I felt pressured because this is my first time in the SEA Games and to reach the finals. I lost it a bit, so sorry to the team. Perhaps if I was able to do my movements properly, if I got a feel of the court, the game might have been different. I might have had some rhythm.)

Garcia kept the Philippines afloat with a hard-fought second match against Benedict Chan that tied the contest. He needed 4 sets to overcome the Singaporean, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9.

In the decider, however, David Pelino yielded 3 straight sets to Samuel Kang, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5.

“Nung time na ‘yun hindi ko na iniisip ‘yung pressure eh, talagang excited ako maglaro,” Pelino said of being the closer for the Philippines. “Gusto ko [sana] ‘yung pambansang awit natin ‘yung kantahin natin. Okay naman kami kasi tinalo pa rin namin Malaysia, nakagawa kami ng history ngayon.”

(At the time I didn’t think about the pressure, I was just so excited to play. I wanted for us to sing our national anthem. It’s okay though because we still defeated Malaysia, we still made history.)

They’re happy with the silver medal since they’ve only started going on professional tours last year. The team also only went to a training camp abroad in Singapore.

“Nagpapasalamat kami lahat kay Robert Bachmann, kung wala siya wala kami ngayon, hindi kami ganito,” Garcia said of federation president Robert Bachmann.

“Kung ico-compare natin sa dati na once a year kami lumalabas, minsan wala pa, nung time na umupo siya pinasok kami as professional. Naglalaro na kami once or twice a month. Laki ng pinagbago. Ultimo departure card namin siya nagsusulat sa airport.”

(We’re thankful to Robert Bachmann, if it weren’t for him we wouldn’t be here now, we wouldn’t be like this. If we would compare it to before – we went out only once a year, sometimes none. But when he assumed office he put us in professional tours. We go out once or twice a month. It was a huge change. He even fills out our departure cards at the airport.)

This entire men’s team also bucked shock after they were involved in a bus crash early in the SEA Games, but weren’t hurt.

They will go back home to the Philippines for a brief respite before returning once more to Malaysia for another professional tour on September 5.

Meanwhile, the women’s team also added a bronze medal to the Philippines’ medal tally a day before the closing ceremony. – Rappler.com