Debutante Sivasangari ready to punch above weight at PSA Finals
KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 8 S. Sivasangari is eyeing a major breakthrough in her debut at the PSA World Tour Finals in Toronto next week after landing a decent group draw.
The 26-year-old, who won the recent Cincinnati Cup and trains under French legend Gregory Gaultier in Prague, will be up against world No.1 Nouran Gohar (Egypt), No.4 Olivia Weaver (the United States) and No.7 Satomi Watanabe (Japan) in Group A.
The season-ending tournament, featuring the world's top eight players, takes place from June 22-27.
The top two players from each group will progress to the semi-finals.
Group B consists of world champion and world No. 2 Nour El Sherbini (Egypt), No. 5 Amina Orfi (Egypt), No. 6 Tinne Gilis (Belgium), and No. 9 Amanda Sobhy (US).
While Gohar has proved to be a tough nut to crack.
Sivasangari has lost all four of their meetings, including in the Grasshopper Cup final in April.
She has won once in seven meetings against Weaver and defeated Satomi at the recent British Open.
National coach Ajaz Azmat believes the Asian champion is in the best shape mentally and physically ahead of the tournament.
"She's training well, focused on quality over quantity, and looking sharp," said Ajaz.
"The best-of-three format suits her, and she's confident about her chances against Satomi and Weaver."
Ajaz added that her qualification marks a proud moment for Malaysian squash.
"It's a huge honour for Sivasangari and for Malaysia to have a player in the PSA Finals again. The last was Datuk Nicol David, who won the title in 2011 and 2012."
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