Cross sings praises after Sivasangari stumbles in world meet quarters

PETALING JAYA: The dream run may be over, but S. Sivasangari (pic) can hold her head high.

Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) coaching director Andrew Cross has praised Sivasangari for her commendable effort despite bowing out in the quarter-finals of the World Champion­ships.

The 25-year-old’s fine run came to an end at the hands of home favourite Olivia Weaver, who secured a 3-1 win at the University Club and Lakeshore Sport & Fitness in Chicago on Thursday.

Sivasangari, who had been targeting to become the first Malaysian since Datuk Nicol David to reach the semi-finals of the World Championships in 11 years, went down 3-11, 11-8, 8-11, 5-11 in 41 minutes.

Earlier, she had already made history by becoming the first Malaysian in eight years to advance to the World Champion­ships quarter-finals since Nicol achieved the feat in Manchester in 2017.

Although Cross admitted that Sivasangari was not as sharp as she was in her third round performance, he felt there were still positives to take from the match.

“I thought she played reasonably well, although not quite as impressively as she did in an earlier round against Amanda Sobhy,” said Cross.

“She was particularly strong in the second game. I was hoping she would maintain that momentum, but the rallies were tough for both players.

“Weaver is world No. 4 for a reason.

‘‘She was really good, very solid and hard to break down. Congratulations to her. It was a strong performance from Weaver,” he added.

Weaver had the upper hand going into the match as she was playing on home soil and held a better head-to-head record against the Malaysian.

The American has won five of their six meetings since 2022. Sivasangari’s only win came in the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup in February.

The defeat also marked the end of Malaysia’s campaign in the world meet.

Sivasangari will have about two weeks to regroup and prepare for a comeback as she is set to compete in the British Open starting on June 2 in Birmingham.