Sure bronze in squash

Teenaged squash trainer Robert Garcia upset Indonesia’s No. 1 player Nuryanto Suparman, 9-3, 9-6, 9-6, to assure the Philippines of a bronze medal in the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games the other night.

Garcia, 19, was slated to face Mohamed Nfiizwan bin Adnan of Malaysia in the semifinals at the Makati Sports Club last night. The winner is guaranteed a silver medal and advances to the finals tonight.

The Philippines’ other bet Ricky Espinola was two points away from clinching a bronze but failed to close out Borman Subroto of Indonesia and lost a 9-1, 4-9, 6-9, 9-7, 9-2 heartbreaker. Subroto played Timothy Arnold of Malaysia in the other semifinal match last night.

In the ladies division, Junieta Mokalu of Indonesia blanked US-based Filipina investment banker Regina Borromeo, 9-4, 9-7, 9-3, to wipe out the host nation’s medal chances.

Only two gold medals are at stake in squash. With Singapore backing out because of internal problems in its sports association, organizers decided to scratch the team competitions and hold only singles play for men and women. Five players were entered in the men’s division and six in the ladies.

Squash Rackets Association of the Philippines (SRAP) president and former Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) secretary-general Romeo Ribano shrugged off the early dismissal of Espinola and Borromeo.

"There are lessons to be learned," he said. "In Espinola’s case, he thought the match was over after leading in the fourth set and started to take low percentage, high-risk shots to end it. He got tired and his opponent was suddenly back in control."

Ribano said he expects the Philippines to reap the benefits of a youth development program now in place after four years. "We’ve got three girls, two 13-year-olds and one 12-year-old, and a 15-year-old boy in the training pool and they’re the stars of the future," noted Ribano. "We’ll try to give them the necessary support to improve their game."

Ribano said Garcia and Espinola trained 10 days in Hong Kong last October and the SRAP brought in two foreign players to hone their skills a month before the SEA Games.

"Instead of spending big money for international exposure, we thought of the less expensive option of hiring foreign pros to practice our players in Manila," said Ribano.

Garcia, a Mariano Marcos Memorial high school graduate of Sta. Ana, took up squash in 1999 and has won a bronze in the Japan Junior Open the last two years. The 5’8" power player whose aggressive style is fueled by a length-and-boast attack never gave Suparman a chance. In the third set, he sprinted to a 7-1 lead before wrapping it up at 9-6.

Suparman, 33, won a bronze for Indonesia in singles play at the 2001 SEA Games and was a solid favorite to upend Garcia. But he couldn’t keep pace with Garcia’s younger legs. Garcia gradually wore down Suparman until the Indonesian top seed suffered leg cramps and finished the match on instinct.

Borromeo, 26, was born in Manila the youngest of four and attended the International School before transferring to a high school in New Hampshire when she was 14. She is a former junior tennis player whose contemporary was Maricris Fernandez. Her parents are Philamlife executive Rafael Borromeo and obstetrician Dr. Romana Borromeo.

Borromeo went on to play on the University of Pennsylvania Ivy League squash champion team. She pocketed a bronze in ladies team play at the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei. A Morgan Stanley investment banker, Borromeo flew in last Wednesday to compete in her second SEA Games.

Mokalu seemed to distract Borromeo by wearing a black veil and a black pantsuit. Although she was covered from head to foot, Mokalu didn’t mind the heat and finished a lot fresher in the homestretch.

"No excuses," said Borromeo. "Her outfit didn’t distract me. I had no jet lag. I was nervous playing before the homecrowd. She was a better player than me that night."

Espinola, a Rockwell squash pro, made his SEA Games debut in 2001 and brought back a bronze in team competition. The four-time national champion stormed back from losing the first set to take the next two in outsteadying Subroto.

But in the fourth set, Espinola blew a 7-6 edge and frittered away the chance to finish off Subroto. He tired out and in the fifth set, Subroto raced to a 6-0 lead and never looked back.

Recovering from a blowout in the first set to almost win the match gained for Espinola the respect of Subroto and the packed crowd.

"Sa susunod, hindi na mangyayari yan," vowed Espinola. "Masakit ang pagkatalo ko. Sayang at mahina pa naman ang makakalaban ko sa semis kung nanalo ako kay Subroto. Go for gold na sana ako."