KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 7 squash player S. Sivasangari was stretched to the limit by her fellow national teammate Aifa Azman before booking her spot in the Karachi Open final.
Aifa came within a whisker of pulling off a big upset when she took Sivasangari all the way until the deciding fifth game.
But her persistence was not rewarded in the end as Sivasangari took control in the deciding game.
Sivasangari finally prevailed 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5 in a 58-minute long battle to earn her first PSA World Tour final appearance for 2026.
Sivasangari will be relieved to keep her unbeaten record against Aifa, having won all six meetings so far.
The second seeded Sivasangari will take on world No. 3 Amina Orfi of Egypt in the final today.
Amina defeated fellow Egyptian Nada Abbas 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 in the other semi-final match.
It will be tough going for Sivasangari though as she needs to produce her best squash game to have any chance of overcoming her younger Eygptian rival.
Sivasangari has lost six out of seven previous meetings against the 18-year-old Egyptian.
As for Aifa, she is not disappointed at her gutsy run into the semi-finals.
Aifa had stunned third seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt 11-9, 13-11, 11-3 on Friday to reach her maiden Gold-level semi-final.
“I’m just so thankful for my team and my family. I’m so happy to make it to the semi-finals this time.
“My sister (Aira Azman) and I have both seen each other go through our ups and downs with injuries.
“So I’m just happy that we are starting 2026 really well – she made the quarter-final as well – but I’m really happy I got one step further than her.
“I’m really grateful for all her support and I’m proud of both of us,” said 24-year-old Aifa.
Aira, a three-time national champion, was beaten 10-12, 8-11, 11-5, 8-11 by Orfi in the quarter-finals on Friday.
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