Sivasangari upsets world No. 20 Letourneau to book last-eight spot

PETALING JAYA: S. Sivasangari (pic) continues to make waves on the international stage.

The United States-based squash player, who was named the Ivy League Women’s Player of the Year just two days ago, reached the last eight of the Squash on Fire Open after upsetting world No. 20 Danielle Letourneau in Washington.

The unseeded national No. 1 and world No. 26 overcame the eighth seeded Canadian 5-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 in a 45-minute second-round match on Thursday.

“She is really good and has improved a lot over the past few years, so I was prepared,” said Sivasangari.

The 23-year-old from Sungai Petani started her campaign by beating Latvian wild card entry Ineta Mackevica 11-3, 11-8, 16-14 in the first round.

The final year student in Cornell University will need to be at her best as she goes against third seed Nour El Tayeb of Egypt for a place in the semi-finals.

“I need to have a good game plan as it’s going to be another tough match,” said Sivasangari.

Last week, she stormed into the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Gaynor Open before losing to world No. 11 Olivia Fiechter of the United States.

Teammate Rachel Arnold is also in the last eight after beating Canada’s seventh seed Hollie Naughton 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.

Rachel will take on American Sabrina Sobhy in the lower half of the quarter-final draw.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Open champion Aifa Azman bowed out after losing 8-11, 6-11, 11-13 to second seed Joelle King of New Zealand.

National men’s No. 1 Ng Eain Yow also failed to clear his hurdle, going down 6-11, 1-11, 6-11 to Scotsman Greg Lobban.