PETALING JAYA: National squash player S. Sivasangari’s hopes of defending her Hong Kong Football Club Squash Open title were dashed after she fell to Egypt’s Fayrouz Aboelkheir in the final on Saturday (Nov 29).
Top seed Sivasangari was stunned in the final as she fell to third seed Aboelkheir 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 4-11 in 36 minutes at the Hong Kong Football Club Squash Centre.
It was the fourth time Sivasangari met Aboelkheir on tour, and although world No. 7 Sivasangari had won their first two matches last year, world No. 11 Aboelkheir had won the two recent meetings, including their previous encounter at the PSA Squash Tour Finals in Toronto in June.
Sivasangari had won the tournament in 2023 when it was a bronze-level event, but it has since been upgraded to a silver-level event.
Both Sivasangari and Aboelkheir will remain in Hong Kong as they are set to compete at the platinum-level Hong Kong Open, starting on Monday (Dec 1).
