PETALING JAYA: S. Sivasangari’s hope of making it to the semi-finals of the PSA Squash Tour Finals hangs in the balance after suffering her second defeat in the group stage on Tuesday (June 24).
World No. 8 Sivasangari lost 10-11, 11-9, 11-7 to world No. 14 Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt at the Revival Film Studios in Toronto.
It was a surprise loss by the Malaysian as she had won both their previous meetings last year at the Singapore Open and Hong Kong Open.
Sivasangari, who is making her debut at the Squash Tour Finals, had lost her first Group B match against world No. 4 Olivia Weaver, with the American winning 11-9, 11-9.
She has one last group stage fixture to complete in her bid to enter the semis - against world No. 7 Satomi Watanabe of Japan.
Weaver currently sits top of the group with seven points, with Watanabe and Aboelkheir in second and third with four points each, while Sivasangari has one point as she won one set against Aboelkheir.
Weaver had defeated Watanabe 3-11, 11-6, 11-6 in their second group stage match.
The Malaysian No. 1 will need to win in straight sets against Watanabe to give herself a shot at the semis, but only if Weaver defeats Aboelkheir in straight sets as well.
Meanwhile, in Group A, world No. 1 Nouran Gohar of Egypt and world No. 10 Georgina Kennedy of England sealed their spots in the semi-finals with a match to spare.
Gohar defeated world No. 6 Tinne Gilis of Belgium 11-2, 11-4, while Kennedy took down world No. 9 Amanda Sobhy of the United States 11-4, 11-10.
