MANILA, Philippines - Team Blackwater Elite leaned on national junior player Dondon Espinola in the deciding match to capture the first Punta Fuego summer squash championship in the Nasugbu peninsula last Saturday night.
Espinola, 15, turned back Meralco’s Bobby Bachmann, 11-5, 11-8, in a thrilling climax of the four-team event that brought in 17 players. Blackwater Elite and Meralco were tied in sets, 3-3, and points, 51-all, before Espinola and Bachmann faced off to decide the winner in the knockout, two-round competition.
After an uneventful first set, Bachmann took control of the early rallies in the second, 7-4, behind a booming serve but Espinola, a San Antonio high school freshman in Makati, slowly came back to pull away. In a highlight play, Bachmann scored on a daring no-look drop nick shot to the right corner that appeared to shake up Espinola who had to scramble from three points behind to knot it, 8-all. Espinola eventually regained his composure to force Bachmann into errors down the stretch.
In the other matches of the finals, Meralco’s Stephen Gan downed Blackwater Elite’s Quinito Henson, 11-3, 11-6, Blackwater Elite’s Lito Name beat Meralco’s Jun del Rosario, 11-6, 11-3, and Blackwater Elite’s Menchu Henson and Meralco’s Anthony Suntay split their sets, 11-9, 9-11.
Team Accel defeated Team Air21, five sets to three, for third place. Accel got off to a rousing 4-0 lead in sets after Roxas Holdings senior vice president Sonnie Aguilar repulsed Rohan Bagli, 11-3, 11-4, and fashion icon Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez upended American lawyer Steve Pingree, 11-5, 11-2. Air21’s Joey Mabilangan kept the Express hopes alive by blanking Accel’s Jimmy Romasanta, 11-6, 11-7. Accel’s Yazdi Bagli, Procter and Gamble associate director for finance, clinched the tie by splitting sets with Air21’s Jovie Vilar, 11-9, 9-11.
To make it to the finals, Blackwater Elite trounced Air21, five sets to three, and Meralco crushed Accel, six sets to two.
Blackwater Elite raced to a 4-0 edge in sets after Menchu Henson beat Air21’s Niño Gan, 11-5, 11-3, and Name thumped Pingree, 11-3, 11-4. Mabilangan defeated Quinito Henson, 11-3, 11-4, then Blackwater Elite’s Espinola drew with Vilar, 11-3, 7-11, to clinch.
Meralco and Accel split their first two matches as Aguilar and Suntay levelled up, 1-1, and Gonzalez split with Del Rosario, 1-1. Gan crushed Romasanta, 11-5, 11-0, to put the Bolts in front then Bachmann swept Bagli, 11-10, 11-9, in a closely fought contest.
In a special match to cap the hostilities, tournament director and six-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist Edgar Balleber pitted Niño Gan, 10, against Rohan Bagli, 9, to decide who will take home the medal for the fourth spot in Team Air21. Gan and Bagli alternated to play the slot in the two rounds. The boys went toe-to-toe and battled to a split with Gan taking the first set, 11-9, and Bagli the second, 11-10. Gan wound up with the medal by a hairline on aggregate points, 21-20. Balleber and national player Richard Espinola took turns to referee the 17 matches.
Only three players went undefeated without dropping a set – Mabilangan, Stephen Gan and Name.
Club Punta Fuego acting general manager Mikel Arriet awarded the squash players with glass trophies and medals after the tournament. He said the success of the competition has sparked a renewed interest in squash and assured the players of Punta Fuego’s support for the next tournament.
Pingree, the squash committee chairman, thanked the sponsors for their all-out support – San Miguel Corp., Ginebra San Miguel, PLDT, Smart Infinity, Harbour Centre, Alaska Milk, Blackwater Elite, Ever Bilena, Coca-Cola, Phiten, Meralco, Accel, Club Punta Fuego, Air21, Rega Corp. and The Philippine STAR.
The players and their families were treated to a buffet dinner during the awarding ceremonies at the Jardineto grove on Punta Fuego’s long beach. Then, the squash committee held a four-game fun bingo in the nightcap.
Anthony Suntay’s son Keon won the top bingo prize of a Blackberry cellphone and a three-day, two-night stay at Pearl Farm, Davao. Jimmy Romasanta took the second bingo prize of a Nokia cellphone and a three-day, two-night stay at Seven Stones Resort, Boracay. Cristalle Henares, playing Del Rosario’s cards, claimed the third bingo prize of P10,000 cash and a Nokia cellphone. Del Rosario, who left early for Manila, donated P5,000 to the Muntinlupa Foundation Sagip for abused women and children. Yazdi Bagli brought home the fourth bingo prize of a Prince sports bag, a Nike Manny Pacquiao T-shirt and a Terton dart board.