TO raise the standards of local athletes by exposing them to high-level play, the Philippine Squash Academy is hosting back-to-back international meets in the last week of October at the national squash training center inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The first will be the Philippine Satellite No. 1 from Oct. 22 to 25 and will be followed by the Philippine Challenger Classic from Oct. 28 to 31, according to PSA Academy president Robert Bachmann, adding that PSA ranking points and cash prizes will be at stake in both competitions.

“Staging these two tournaments is our way of exposing our local national players to higher levels of competition here instead of sending them overseas,” said Bachmann, who is hoping a local athlete would qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 when squash makes its debut in the Summer Games.

In the men’s and women’s divisions of the 24-player draw of the lower-rated Philippine Satellite No. 1, the champions in both categories will earn 30 PSA ranking points while the runners-up will get 19.50 points. The titlists and losing finalists in the PH Challenger Classic get 60 and 39 points, respectively.

National coach Wee Wern Low of Malaysia said the host association is allowed to field four players – two PSA-rated players and two non-PSA players – in each class of both tournaments.

Newly-crowned national champion Reymark Begornia, who dethroned Robert Garcia in the men’s finals of the recent PSA National Open, will lead the country’s bid in both tournaments while Jemycah Aribado and Alyssa Reyes Dalida will spearhead the distaff side. 

Bachmann also said the PSA purchased two inflatable squash courts and bleachers from overseas through the financial support of Sen. Bong Go, chairman of the Senate Sports Committee.

“We would like to thank Sen. Bong Go for this generous donation to the PSA. We will use the inflatable squash courts in our grassroots and outreach programs. The bleachers will enable more fans to watch squash action at our national training center, especially now that we have two international meets coming up,” he said.