Garcia gains singles final in squash

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ No. 1 squash player Robert Garcia overcame the crowding tactics of Malaysia’s Darren Pragasam to win, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 at the Manila Polo Club last Monday night and became the first Filipino ever to reach the men’s singles final in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Garcia, 33, battled Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie, 25, for the gold medal last night. Win or lose, Garcia assured the Philippines of a silver medal, the country’s highest finish in men’s singles since squash made its debut at the 1991 SEA Games. World No. 98 Addeen was the heavy favorite to capture the gold, cruising to the final without dropping a set in whipping Indonesia’s Satria Laksana, 11-3, 11-9, 11-5 in the quarterfinals and Singapore’s Man Chin Chua, 11-3, 11-3, 11-2 in the semifinals. Addeen was the silver medalist in the 2017 SEA Games.

World No. 256 Garcia upset Singapore’s Samuel Kang, 11-5, 12-10, 11-8 in the quarterfinals and downed Pragasam in a come-from-behind thriller in the semifinals. Garcia bagged a silver in men’s team at the 2017 SEA Games but his previous best in men’s singles was a bronze, also in 2017.

Garcia’s win over Pragasam was one for the books. He raced to a 7-1 lead in the first set then lost a point on a controversial let called by Indian center referee Srikanth Seshadri after the Malaysia claimed physical interference. Garcia swore he didn’t make contact and Pragasam lied to save the point. Still, Garcia held on to win it, 11-5. In the second set, Pragasam opened a 7-4 edge but Garcia tied it, 7-7 before the Malaysian took four of the next five points to win, 11-8.

Things got touchy in the third set as Pragasam kept bumping into Garcia and getting in his way to throw off his rhythm. Pragasam went up, 8-2 but Garcia battled back to claim the driver’s seat, 9-8, on a nick off a drop in the right corner. The Malaysian equalized on a stroke, picked up another point and finished on another stroke, 11-9. Garcia stormed out of the court and yelled, “change the referee” in exasperation. Srikanth docked a point off Garcia for the rant to start the fourth set. 

Pragasam, who tired himself out diving for nearly impossible retrieves in the third set, seemed to concede the fourth to rest for the fifth as Garcia breezed, 11-3, on a variety of drops, down-the-wall length shots to the back and double walls. The Malaysian tried to influence a let by crashing into Garcia even as the ball was way out of reach but Srikanth didn’t call it as Garcia led, 9-3. In the decider, Garcia rode on momentum to break out to a 4-1 advantage. Pragasam hit the tin on a wide open shot in an unforced error to signal his collapse with Garcia ahead, 6-4. Garcia went on to clinch, 11-5.

Garcia said he was more worried about Kang than Pragasam. “’Di ko pa natatalo si Kang sa apat na matches namin,” said Garcia referring to the World No. 155. “Binigay ko ang lahat para sa bayan, mga kababayan natin, ang squash community, PSC, POC, Philippine Squash Academy at pamilya ko.” Garcia’s wife Gladys and their two children, Gab, 10, and Gabe, 10-month-old, were his inspiration in the stands.

Garcia said he lost his cool in the third set because of Pragasam’s tactics. But he regained his composure to win the last two sets. In the fifth, Srikanth admonished both players for unnecessary physicality and over the microphone, said the big crowd deserved to witness a higher quality of squash. Garcia turned to Srikanth, put his hands together as if in prayer and bowed to acknowledge the admonition. The gesture of sportsmanship calmed Garcia into playing his best squash to ice the contest which was marked by 16 strokes, including six in the fifth set. Philippine team coach Chad Sunde described Garcia as a “roller coaster” player. “He gets very emotional but once he’s focused, he’s sensational,” said Sunde, a New Zealand native. 

Srikanth is one of 18 referees assigned for squash. Each match has three referees for center, left and right. Six of the 18 referees are Filipinos Rodan Banquilay, Leo Almaida, Lito Abanil, Ed Aguilando, Richard Espinola and Jessu Garcia. The other referees are from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and India.

In the quarterfinals, the Philippines’ No. 1 women’s player Myca Aribado swept Indonesia’s Nisa Nur Fadillah, 11-9, 11-3, 11-2 then settled for the bronze in singles after losing to Malaysia’s Chan Yiwen, 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 in the semifinals. Another Filipino bet MacMac Begornia put up a courageous stand in losing to Singapore’s Chua, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8 in the quarterfinals. The mixed team event starts today with the Philippines represented by Garcia, Begornia, David Pelino, Aribado and Aysah Dalida. The team events for men and women begin on Saturday.