PETALING JAYA: It was a day of mixed fortunes for national squash players in the Western Australia Open as U. Thanusaa (pic) clinched the women’s title but men’s player Low Wa Sern had to settle for second place yesterday.
Seventh seed Thanusaa capped off a stellar run at the PSA Challenger event by defeating third seed Heo Ming-yeong of South Korea 12-10, 5-11, 11-2, 11-3 in Mirrabooka.
It was her second win of the year after capturing the T-Force Pro Challenger Series title in Philadelphia in March.
World No. 228 Thanusaa was on fire in Australia, taking down higher-seeded players en route to the final.
She came from a game down to stun top seed and home player Erin Classen in the quarter-finals, before taking down fifth seed South Korean Song Chae-won in straight games in the last four.
Thanusaa said the win will motivate her to keep working hard and she aims to break into the top 200 by the end of the year.
“This win motivates me to keep working harder and strive for success on the international stage,” she said.
“My main goal is to break into the top 200 this year. I was 125th two years ago, but my ranking fell because I was not competing due to a wrist injury.”
Meanwhile, Wa Sern’s blazing run was denied a triumphant victory as Swiss player Louai Hafez came out on top in the final.
Wa Sern fell in straight games to the third seed as he lost 6-11, 6-11, 2-11.
However, SEA Games gold medallist Wa Sern made heads turn when he upset second seed home player Brendan MacDonald in straight games in the semi-finals.
Wa Sern had also defeated compatriot and seventh seed Bryan Lim in the quarter-finals.
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