Solar Sports cops Palms squash crown

Solar Sports, powered by national junior star Reggie Ebuenga and former PBA cager Dino Aldeguer, edged Crocs, 10-9, in the finals of the first All-Star squash team championships at the Palms Country Club in Alabang last Saturday. 

It was a pulsating finish as the race for the four-team title came down to a match between No. 3 seeds Jun del Rosario of Solar Sports and Nicky Camcam of Crocs. Del Rosario nipped Camcam, 15-9, 13-15, 15-13, to claim the marginal point in the tie.

Only four of 36 participants were unbeaten in the double round series without dropping a set. They were Crocs’ David Pelino and Margot Garcia, Adidas’ Rene Garcia and Collezione’s Vic Bernardo. Other undefeated players were Ebuenga, Aldeguer, Solar’s Mike Garcia and Crocs’ Franco Limjuco and Dr. Vicki Belo.

To advance to the finals, Solar beat Adidas, 14-10, and Crocs trounced Collezione, 19-7. In the battle for third place, Collezione defeated Adidas, 11-9.

The US scoring system of straight-to-15 without side-outs was used. Team scores were determined by sets won and lost.

The competition featured five national junior players – Ebuenga, 14, Myca Aribado, 14, Pelino, 15, Ayssa Dalida, 14, and Mac-Mac Begornia, 16. Squash Rackets Association of the Philippines president Romy Ribano, who attended the event, said four of the five juniors will be picked to represent the country at the Hong Kong Junior Open on Aug. 13-17 with fashion icon Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez as team manager.

Pelino wound up unscathed with wins over Manish Mahtani, 15-11, 15-11, and Gil Coscolluela, 15-12, 15-12, 15-7. Ebuenga also went 2-of-2, outlasting Aribado, 13-15, 15-14, 15-11, and Begornia, 13-15, 15-7, 15-13.

Highlights of the one-day affair included Dr. Belo’s come-from-behind victory over De Leon-Gonzalez, 10-15, 15-11, 15-9, Aldeguer’s 13-15, 15-7, 15-13 thriller over Adidas’ Jovie Vilar and Crocs’ Franco Limjuco’s 15-14, 15-6, 13-15 win over Collezione’s Dondi Verano.

De Leon-Gonzalez, Verano, del Rosario and Quinito Henson of the Palms squash committee organized the event with club sports manager Shammy Hofilena, sports coordinator Romeo Elsisusa and pros Edgar Balleber and Rodan Banquilay.

There were 14 of 35 total matches that were decided by 2-1 counts, indicating several down-to-the-wire endings.

Celebrities who saw action included Dr. Belo, Dr. Hayden Kho, radio-TV host Mo Twister, de Leon-Gonzalez, fashion designer Patrice Ramos Diaz, runway model Gem Padilla, world-famous environmentalist photographer Gutsy Tuason, Aldeguer and Luxasia general manager Mia Nolasco.

In the early evening awarding program, Beijing Olympics nutrition lecturer Sanirose Orbeta and Philippine Sports Commission medical director Dr. Jose Raul Canlas came to share their insights on getting and staying fit.

Orbeta stressed the importance of a balanced diet and gave tips on what to eat in preparing for and recovering from a competition. Canlas, head of the FIBA medical commission supervising the basketball tournament at the Beijing Olympics, said players should get fit to play squash and not play squash to get fit. He warned against extreme physical exercise in an effort to lose weight, advising moderate intake of food as the key to trimming down.

Palms general manager Todd Bretzlaff presented Orbeta and Canlas with plaques of appreciation from the club.