Aribado settles for 2nd place in Thai Open

Jemyca Aribado at the 3rd South East Asian Games Malaysia, February 2017. (Photo: Jemyca Aribado/Facebook)

MANILA — The Philippines lost in the women’s final of the Singha Squash Thailand Open Championship in Pattaya last Sunday.

According to a report from the squashsite.co.uk website, fourth seed Jemyca Aribado lost to second seed Malaysian Rachel Arnold, 2-3 (11-8, 1-11, 11-5, 2-11, 18-16) in their 51-minute encounter at the Ambassador City Jomtien Hotel.

“Jemyca took the first game where she played to length and kept the ball tight to the wall. Rachel came back strongly and took the second game with some play,” the report said.

“The fiery Jemyca forced Rachel into many unforced errors to take the game. Rachel again came back strongly to take the fourth. It was tight all the way in the fifth and at deuce, the fans were entertained to a nail-biting exciting finish with Jemyca having two match points and Rachel finally taking the championship title on her seventh match point,” the report added.

In the battle for third place, top seed Tong Tsz Wing of Hong Kong needed only 38 minutes to beat third seed Indian Sachika Inggale, 11-5, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8.

Meanwhile, second seed Harinderpal Sandhu of India was crowned men’s champion after a gruelling final match against fourth seed Alex Lau of Hong Kong.

Sandhu, a member of the team that won the gold medal in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, prevailed, 3-2 (11-7, 11-4, 12-14, 10-12, 11-5), after 61 minutes.

Third seed Malaysian Elvinn Keo finished third after top seed compatriot, Ivan Yuen, retired in the fourth set The score was 11-8, 9-11, 5-11, 9-6.

A total of 32 men and 16 women joined the Singha Thailand Open, which was held from September 29 to October 1. The tournament was organized by the Thailand Squash Rackets Association.