PETALING JAYA: Malaysian squash player S. Sivasangari has everything going for her to aim for a major breakthrough in her debut at the PSA World Tour Finals in Toronto, Canada, from June 22-27.
Sivasangari has climbed a rung to No. 8 in the world rankings and has also landed a favourable group draw for the prestigious season-ending tournament.
The 26-year-old, who won the recent Cincinnati Cup and is training under French legend Gregory Gaultier in Prague, will be up against world No. 1 and newly crowned British Open champion Nouran Gohar of Egypt, No. 4 Olivia Weaver of the United States and No. 7 Satomi Watanabe of Japan in Group A.
The prestigious tournament next week features only the world’s top eight male and female players.
The top two players from each group will progress to the semi-finals.
Group B is seen as a tougher one, comprising world champion and world No. 2 Nour El Sherbini and No. 5 Amina Orfi, both from Egypt, No. 6 Tinne Gilis of Belgium and No. 9 Amanda Sobhy of the US.
Among Sivasangari’s three rivals in Group A, Gohar will be the toughest to beat.
Sivasangari has lost all four of their meetings, including in the Grasshopper Cup final in April.
She, however, has won once in seven meetings against Weaver and defeated Satomi in the third round at the recent British Open.
Qualifying for the World Tour Finals is already a proud moment for Malaysian squash and advancing to the semi-finals will be another step forward in Sivasangari’s blooming career.
She skipped the chance to fight for the Asian Championships title taking place in Kuching, Sarawak, next week after learning she has made the cut for the World Tour Finals.
The last Malaysian player to feature in the tournament was Datuk Nicol David, who won the title in 2011 and 2012.
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