Sivasangari targets better run at PSA Tour Finals

PETALING JAYA: World No. 5 S. Sivasangari will be hoping for better luck in her second PSA Squash Tour Finals appearance in Paris next week.

Sivasangari is the only Malaysian representative to qualify for the prestigious event.

Last year, Sivasangari lost all three group matches in her first appearance in the PSA Tour Finals against Olivia Weaver of the United States, Satomi Watanabe of Japan and Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt in Ontario, Canada.

A total of 16 players, comprising the top eight men and top eight women, will feature in the Tour Finals.

This year’s tournament is a knockout competition from the first round compared to the group stage format, which traditionally was used at previous Tour Finals.

All matches will be played over five games while ranking points have been amended, with the winners of the event taking home a maximum of 1,500 bonus points.

The 27-year-old from Kedah, who won back-to-back titles at the Australian Open and Grasshopper Cup in Switzerland this year, will be hoping to go beyond the first round in Paris.

Sivasangari has a fighting chance as she meets Weaver, who is in the process of recovering her match fitness.

The world No. 4 Weaver was unable to play in the quarter-finals against Satomi Watanabe of Japan in the British Open in Birmingham last week due to injury.

If Sivasangari reaches the semi-finals, she is likely to face British Open champion and newly installed world No. 1 Amina Orfi of Egypt.