The Philippine squash team brought home two gold medals from the 23rd International Jumbo Doubles for the President’s Cup 2023, held at The Tanglin Club in Singapore from 16 to 19 February.
Robert Garcia and David William Peliño bagged the Open Category title after a 15-8, 15-8 win over the local pair of Marcus Phua and Tan Zhi Rui.
Reymark Perez Begornia and Mel John Arebado also got the gold in the Open Special Plate, defeating compatriots Jemyca Aribado and Aysah Reyes Dalida in the quarterfinals.
Philippine Squash Academy president Robert Bachmann said while this type of competition won’t be at the upcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, it does show how the chemistry of Garcia and Peliño work out in future tournaments.
“With Jumbo doubles, this event is not in the Asian Games but you can see that Robert and David work well together. They’re good partners together so that’s what they have to work on,” Bachmann said.
“That will help them in the doubles competition in the Asian Games.”
While Arbido and Dalida were the only Filipino pair to not reach the podium, Bachmann is still proud of them given the intensity of the competition they are in.
“Out of 64 pairs, Jemyca and Aysah came in at 13th but remember, this is an open event so they’re also fighting against male players,” Bachmann said.
