Olivia Weaver (Photo PSA)
World No.5 Olivia Weaver has defended her title at the Silicon Valley Open squash championships after coming through a back-and-forth four-game duel with Sivasangari Subramaniam in Redwood City.
The men’s title was an equally enthralling encounter with second seeded Egyptian Karim Gawad edging out fifth seed Victor Crouin of France 11-3, 2-11, 11-5, 12-10 in a match that lasted 54 minutes.
Weaver, playing just her second event of the 2025/26 season after suffering an adductor injury last month, defeated the Malaysian No.1 to lift her 11th title on the PSA Squash Tour.
In a match where both players hit their peaks at different moments, it was top seed Weaver who prevailed by a 12-10, 4-11, 11-4, 11-4 scoreline.
No.3 seed Sivasangari started the better of the two players, picking up where she left off from her dominant semi-final win over Salma Hany and opening up a 10-8 lead in the first game. However, a costly error into the tin opened up the door for Weaver, with the American pouncing to take the subsequent tie-break when a stroke was awarded in her favour.
World No.8 Sivasangari wasn’t to be deterred from firing the ball short in the second game, though, blitzing her way into a quick-fire 7-0 lead in the second game and soon after drawing the match level.
However, this attacking game plan resulted in a number of costly errors for the Malaysian in the third game, with Weaver rediscovering her lines and lengths and keeping the ball off the volley of her opponent. In what was a role reversal to the second game, it was Weaver who ran away with the third to take herself within a game of the title.
Weaver continued to lock down the court in the fourth game, offering up no loose balls for her opponent to feed on and forcing Sivasangari deep into the back two corners on the all-glass court. Soon after, the Philadelphia-born 30-year-old held six match balls on her racket, sealing the title defence with a smart forehand boast.
“I’m over the moon for sure,” Weaver said after the match. “I just didn’t really know what to expect coming out here. I knew I had been feeling good all week coming in, but it’s been a while since I’ve competed.
“So I was just looking forward to it, but wasn’t really putting a ton of pressure on myself to to defend my title. I mean, I wanted to play well and I knew if I did, I could do it. But yeah, I don’t think I put a ton of pressure on myself. And I just really tried to enjoy the experience of being back out there and in competition mode. So just over the moon to get through today, “
“It was really tough today. After that second game, the momentum was totally in her hands, and I had to dig deep to crawl my way out of that hole. And yeah, just really proud of myself for digging deep there.
“To battle through a match like that today just gives me that extra bit of confidence, just in my competitive edge and that competitive fighting spirit that I had to tap into today.
Final Result
Women Singles: [1] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt [3] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-1: 12-10, 4-11, 11-4, 11-4 (47m)
Men’s singles: [2] Karim Gawad (EGY) bt. [5] Victor Crouin (FRA) 3-1: 11-3, 2-11, 11-5, 12-10 (54m)
