Garcia upends top seed, gains crown in world pro squash

MANILA, Philippines — Robert Garcia outsmarted Malaysian top seed Valentino Bong, 11-8, 6-11, 15-17, 11-8, 11-7, in a riveting marathon finals match to rule the Nissan Professional Squash Association (PSA) Open singles last weekend  at The Palms Country Club squash courts in Muntinlupa.

With the victory, fashioned out and did it in front of a small but delighted hometown crowd, Garcia became the first Filipino player to win a World Tour event.

“Binalikan ko lang siya. I just played my game and played it smart,” said Garcia of the win which earned him $500 and 20 PSA ranking points.

“I made a lot of mistakes and I didn’t have my usual shot,” rued Bong, currently No. 160 in the PSA world rankings, in losing to the hometown player, who was one of the charges he handled on the national team that saw action in the 30th Malaysia Southeast Asian Games last August.

Bong, whose mother is a Filipina from Cavite, settled for the runner-up check of $300 plus 13 PSA ranking points The  three-day event, supported by Nissan Motors Phils., drew top players from South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, Russia, England and Australia.

In the battle for third, David Pelino beat fellow national teammate Reymark Begornia, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, and took home $200.

Philippine Squash Academy president Robert Bachmann, secretary general Vince Santos and The Palms and Country Club general manager and chef Hans Neukom awarded the medals and prizes to the winners.

“This result is fantastic! I couldn’t ask for more,” said Bachmann of the title clash between Garcia, the country’s top-ranked player, and Bong, who was once rated as high as No. 3 in Malaysia.  

The event was also backed by Gatorade, ActiveHealth Carb-Gel and Enervon, Dunlop and The Palms and Country Club.