Jemyca Aribado: “I’m all in to reach LA.” —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Jemyca Aribado knows that she’s well into something exceptional when squash finally got a rare call up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
And the country’s No. 1 squash player is betting on herself solidly to get there.
“For now, the qualification for the Olympics hasn’t been finalized, but I’m all in to reach LA,’’ Aribado told the Inquirer.
The first Filipino to break into the top 100 of the world rankings, Aribado is fully committed to boost her stock after it took a dive because of the pandemic.
“My goal at the moment is to make it back to the top 100 by performing well in all the tournaments where I will compete in,’’ said Jemyca, now No. 130 in the world from 77th overall in the women’s singles event before COVID-19 hit.
Back-to-back international tournaments to be staged by the Philippine Squash Academy late this month at the national squash training center at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila will kick off the team’s campaign for the Olympic qualifying meets.
The Philippine Satellite No. 1 is set Oct. 22 to Oct. 25 prior to the Philippine Challenger Classic from Oct. 28 to Oct. 31, where PSA (Professional Squash Association) ranking points and cash prizes are dangled for both tournaments.
“These two tournaments will expose our national players to higher levels of competition at home instead of sending them abroad,’’ said PSA president Robert Bachmann.
Breaker
Reymark Begornia, the reigning men’s singles national champion, will lead the nation’s campaign in both tournaments along with Aribado and another women’s ace in Alyssa Reyes Dalida.
“I’m having a good run this year and I hope to bring them to the tournaments here at home,’’ said Aribado, this year’s national women’s champion.
The 31-year-old multiple Southeast Asian Games medalist from Taguig City claimed a silver medal in the HCL Squash Tour Kolkata 2024 in India and had a bronze finish at the Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge this year.
Squash will make its debut in the next Olympics, but there’s no guidelines yet from the World Squash Federation on how to qualify for the quadrennial Summer Games.
Aside from squash, baseball/softball, cricket, flag football and lacrosse have been included by the International Olympic Committee to the LA program.
“There’s no track record for squash since it’s our first time in the Olympics. For us, we have a good team for this and I can strongly say that we will stick with the same team leading up to 2028,’’ said PH national coach Wee Wern Low from Malaysia. INQ