KUALA LUMPUR – Women’s squash player S. Sivasangari swatted away the challenge of reigning junior world champion Amina Orfi from Egypt to win the Hong Kong Football Club Open today.
The tournament’s seventh seed won in straight sets 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 to clinch her second win of the season after winning the Tuanku Mukhriz Trophy in August.
Yesterday in the semi-finals she exacted revenge on tournament second seed Sarah-Jane Perry, who dumped her out in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open last week, by also winning in straight sets 11-8, 11-9, 11-6.
The Malaysian carried that form into the final after needing only 38 minutes to dispatch fourth-seeded Orfi.
Sivasangari said she was nervous in the first round of the tournament but got into her groove as she played each match.
“I’m happy and honestly throughout the week, I played well and I got my game plan right too, today.
“Winning 3-0 against a talented player like Orfi is not easy so I’m thrilled with the win.
“She plays a fast-paced game and I know I can’t keep up if I follow her, so I broke things down and mixed my play up and I think I did that well,” she said in a video on the Professional Squash Association’s X, formerly Twitter, account after the match.
Sivasangari added that it was an emotional win for her after the hardships that she had gone through last year.
She endured a severe car crash in June last year, requiring hospitalisation and multiple surgeries to address head and spine injuries, notably in the C1 region.
She returned with a vengeance this year bagging two gold medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which ended in October.
“Honestly I’m a bit emotional after what happened last year. Every time I win a tournament I just want to celebrate, and scream.
“But deep down I’m just really proud of how far I have come and I think with each tournament I’m just progressing really well.
“I just hope to keep going… I’m doing what I love and I just want to enjoy it out there,” she added.
With this win, Sivasangari takes home a share of the US$55,000 (RM257,647) prize pool.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s second finalist Ng Eain Yow could not add to the country’s joy after losing the men’s final to Aly Abou Eleinen from Egypt.
Eleinen needed four games to defeat the Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7. — November 25, 2023