ONCE ranked among the top 100 women’s squash players in the world, Jemyca Aribado hopes to improve her world ratings when she vies for the singles title of the Philippine Satellite 1 tournament opening on Oct. 22 at the National Squash Center inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
“Gusto ko pong makuha ‘yung title sa Philippine Satellite 1 lalo na at gagawin sa atin,” Aribado, who reached a high of No. 77 in the Professional Squash Association world ratings, said yesterday during the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum.
Joining her in the public sports program backed by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Smart/PLDT, MILO, and ArenaPlus, the country’s 24-7 sports app, were Philippine Squash Academy president Robert Bachmann, national coach Wee Wern Low of Malaysia and national athletes Reymark Begornia and Christopher Buraga.
“Our top athletes can improve their world rankings by competing here and for the rest, this is a chance to get some exposure by playing with the best,” said Bachmann.
He said the events will serve the Philippine team well as it prepares for the 2025 SEA Games in Bangkok, the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, and the qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Aribado will go into the tournament buoyed by her recent runner-up finish in the HCL Squash Tour in India, earning 30 PSA ranking points, and is keen to earn 30 more up for grabs in the singles championship.
Bachmann said the PH Satellite 1 tournament will be followed by the men-only and higher-rated Philippine Challenger Classic set on Oct. 27 to 31 which has drawn elite players from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and India, among others.
Low, who has been handling the national team since March, said that since the first tournament allows non-PSA rated entries, “we will have six players in the men’s draw and three in the women’s draw.”
Low and Bachmann said this is one way of exposing players to top-level play and laying down the initial groundwork in the country’s bid to qualify players for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 when squash makes its debut as an Olympic medal.
An Asian Games double gold medalist, Low, once ranked No. 5 in the world, said they expect the Olympic qualifying guidelines to be released next year.
She acknowledged that it would be tough to make it since only the 32 players each in the men’s and women’s singles will be able to play “so qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics will be an achievement in itself.”
This explains why it’s vital for Pinoy squash players to earn rating points — by sending them to PSA tournaments that will likely serve as the pathway or road map to make the grade in the LA Summer Games.
“This is why my Olympic roadmap started as early as 2015 when I became PSA president, believing that sooner or later our sport would make it to the Olympics, which it finally did when squash makes its debut in Los Angeles,” Bachmann said.
“My first goal is for squash to have a home, and we finally had one, thanks to former PSC chairman Butch Ramirez,” he added.
Begornia, who toppled perennial No. 1 Robert Garcia in the finals of the recent National Open; Aribado, also 31, and Buraga, 19, said they all have dreams of making it to the Olympics.
Begornia said he wants to boost his world ratings, currently at No. 212, to be in serious contention for the LA Summer Games.
