Sivasangari is riding high, but we have to hold our horses

COMING out of adversity takes a lot of character and courage.

And our new squash queen S. Sivasangari has shown she has an abundance of both. Her name is adorning every sports headline in the nation - but she had to make a lot of sacrifices and suffer plenty of pain to get there.

The Sungai Petani-born player announced herself recently on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) circuit when she won the London Classic, her first major title on the PSA world tour. The fact she persevered through titanic battles to win the semi-final and final against players ranked well above her was a testament to her character.

Having followed her progress, it was not a surprise to see her beating top players, in this case, Egyptians world No. 1 Nour El Sherbini and No 2 Hania El Hammamy and Belgian No. 4 Nele Gillis. She also became the first Malaysian to win a PSA gold-level tournament. Datuk Nicol David had qualified for a gold-level final in 2015, when the format was first introduced.

Her reaction after the final against El Hammamy was a picture that spoke a thousand words. One could only imagine what would have gone through her mind after that winning shot.

Even wiping the sweat off her forehead would have reminded her of the accident that led to severe fractures on her face and, more frighteningly, a fracture of her C1 vertebra.

The accident on the Mex Highway in 2022 robbed her of a chance to win gold in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where she had been slotted to be Malaysia’s flag bearer. The anguish on the faces of her parents K. Subramaniam and N. Valli after the accident was not something that anyone could forget.

But Sivasangari is not one who is easily beaten. She defied the odds. For her, each setback was just a closed door to be opened.

Doctors said recovery would take at least a year but she fought like a lioness, and was in top shape in just four months. She made up for the Commonwealth Games miss with two golds in the Asian Games last year, and was again flag-bearer for the nation in Hangzhou.

Her growth has been remarkable, to say the least.

This is a girl who became the youngest national champion when she beat Low Wee Wern in the National Championships six years ago. She was only 19 and knew she had what it takes to be the best.

Nicol is the undisputed greatest of all time in Malaysian squash and even Malaysian sports, and Sivasangari has many of her traits, especially when it comes to tenacity and work rate.

Sivasangari also carries herself well in public. Even after the accident, she was open about her rehabilitation and recovery.

Now, there are a lot of expectations of her. She has already been dubbed the new squash queen.

But we have to hold our horses. The athlete has to be allowed to grow at her own pace. Instead of piling on the pressure, we must let Sivasangari flow.

At the end of the day, an athlete would want to carve his or her own path, and Sivasangari will have to plan that with her coaches, family and sponsors. After all, she has done it her own way all this time.

Some had wanted her sent to the United States for surgery but her parents trusted the local doctors. For the recent London Classic, she got her own mental trainer in Jesse Engelbrecht - and it certainly paid dividends.

Many now say she could looks likely be the first Malaysian to win an Olympics gold in Los Angeles in 2028, but that’s years away. We should focus on her growth instead.

The fans have to support her in every tournament, not just in the big ones. The administrators, meanwhile, must build on the progress she has made by ensuring that she gets the best resources possible to flourish.

More importantly, we need to continue to back her even when she is down and together lift her up again.

She has reminded us about what unity is. We need to stay united for this athlete to battle any adversity.

The results will come in good time.