Consistency the name of the game if Sangari is to go far in Chicago

Tough competitor: Sivasangari has proven that she can hold her own against higher-ranked players and beat them.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s top women’s squash player S. Sivasangari knows she needs consistency in her game in order to go up against the top players at the World Championships in Chicago starting tomorrow.

World No. 9 Sivasangari has proved in the past that she can hold her own against higher-ranked players and beat them, but being able to bring out that performance throughout the tournament is something she is still trying to figure out.

The 26-year-old knows the draw will be tough in Chicago, but steady gameplay in each match is what she needs to progress.

“I think I can provide a challenge to everyone and I just need to find consistency. The experience makes a big difference and I think if I can learn from tough losses, then I can be back challenging the top five.

“I think it’s the consistency of my squash and maybe the mental side for me. I have the game to beat the top girls and to be at the top, but I think the consistency throughout events is what’s separating me from them.

“The top players are consistent and that’s a big thing I’m trying to figure out and get ahead of,” she said in a recent interview with the Professional Squash Association (PSA).

The last time the World Championships was won by a non-Egyptian player, it was Malaysian legend Datuk Nicol David, who won her eighth title in Cairo in 2014.

Sivasangari said it would mean a lot if she was able to bring the trophy back to Malaysia.

“It will mean a lot. It’s different to winning a Platinum event I think. To have your name on that trophy is big and if I were to win at the World Championships, it’s something special.

“Winning the World Champion­ships is most players’ ultimate dream and the biggest thing to happen in their squash careers. I think I’d rather be world champion than world No. 1,” she said.

Sivasangari, who won the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup in February, will start her campaign in Chicago against world No. 52 Marta Dominguez of Spain on Friday.