Sivasangari hoping to make final junior outing a sweet one

One for the road: S. Sivasangari is favoured to win the British Junior Open Under-19 title in the absence of top Egyptian players.

PETALING JAYA: It’s a last chance saloon for S. Sivasangari at the British Junior Open squash championships in Birmingham.

The 18-year-old has made her mark on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour where she has won nine titles and is now ranked the national No. 2 at No. 45 in the world.

However, the Kedahan has not tasted success at the British Juniors since winning the Under-15 title in 2014.

Now in her final junior tournament, Sivasangari is hoping to make the best of one last opportunity to be the first Malaysian since Low Wee Wern in 2009 to win the Under-19 crown.

“This British Juniors is my last-ever junior meet and I really want to do well and win it,” said Sivasangari, who turns 19 on Jan 24.

“I last won in 2014 and it has been a long time since I came away a winner here.

“Now I really want to finish on a high especially since this is the most prestigious junior tournament in the world.”

Sivasangari is certainly favoured to win as she is the top seed in the tournament.

On top of that, three top Egyptians – defending champion Hania El Hammamy, world junior champion Rowan Reda and Amina Yousry have all withdrawn from the competition.

Sivasangari, however, said that won’t make her task easier, especially with second seed and world No. 48 Satomi Watanabe of Japan also out to challenge for the title.

“Hania, Rowan and Amina are not playing but it doesn’t make it any easier for me,” admitted Sivasangari.

“Satomi will be tough. There are also a few English girls and some younger Egyptians. Everyone will be targeting the title, so I need to take it step by step.”

Sivasangari had a first-round bye and only meets Wales’ Megan Thomas or Ireland’s Laura Neil in the second round.

In yesterday’s first-round action, Aira Azman was on song as she thumped England’s Lily Main 11-2, 11-1, 11-1 in the Under-15 category.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Malaysians only

Girls
Under-15: Aira Azman bt Lily Main (Eng) 11-2, 11-1, 11-1.
Under-17: M. Kiroshanna bt Darcie Mounter (Eng) 11-1, 11-1, 11-2.

Boys
Under-17: L. Veerakumar bt Abdul Hadi Khan (Eng) 15-13, 11-4, 11-8.