Sivasangari Subramaniam (Photo PSA)
World No.5 Sivasangari Subramaniam has become the first Malaysian since 2012 to reach the title decider at the PSA Squash Tour Finals presented by TWG Global after she ended World Champion Amina Orfi’s winning run with a superb display at Centquatre-Paris.
Orfi hadn’t lost on the PSA Squash Tour since her match at the Grasshopper Cup with Sivasangari in April, racking up 12 successive wins and capturing the World Championship and British Open titles in that time to put her on the cusp of the World No.1 spot.
However, on a scorching day in France’s capital, Sivasangari came up with one of the performances of her career to date to halt the in-form 18-year-old and book her place in the final of the season-ending tournament for the first time. Sivasangari is the first Malaysian to do so since the legendary Nicol David in 2012.
The Malaysian stormed out of the traps to take the first four points on offer. Orfi eventually came back to put the first game on the board, but Sivasangari continued to attack with venom in the second game, levelling up after winning a sudden death decider in the tiebreak.
Orfi received a conduct warning for being late onto court prior to the third game and things didn’t get much better for the Egyptian as the momentum stayed with Sivasangari, who pulled away to establish a 2-1 lead.
Sivasangari was in full flow in the fourth game too as she continued to dominate the forehand side, however Orfi was able to stick with her as the match went to yet another sudden death tiebreak.
Once again, Sivasangari came up clutch as she put Orfi under pressure and the Egyptian hit the ball out of court as she aimed to lift the ball to the back, sending Sivasangari into the title decider.
“She’s furious, determined and she doesn’t give away anything,” said Sivasangari.
“I tried to stay positive and as consistent as I can. A year ago it was up and down, there are still errors here and there, but I think I did well in crucial moments.
“It means a lot, this is my second Squash Tour Finals and last year I lost all of my matches. After the British, I was disappointed with my performance and didn’t feel like myself. I want to end the season on a good note, I’m happy I beat Amina, but there is another match tomorrow and hopefully I can go all the way.”
Sivasangari’s final opponent will be World No.1 Hania El Hammamy, who defeated fellow Egyptian Fayrouz Aboelkheir by an 11-10, 11-8, 11-8 scoreline. El Hammamy is also guaranteed to end the season at World No.1 following Orfi’s defeat.
Aboelkheir ended the title charge of eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini in the previous round and tested El Hammamy throughout, but the hot conditions – which saw temperatures surpass 30°C – seemed to affect her more as El Hammamy held firm to secure the win.
“It took me a while to find my range and my corners,” said 2020 champion El Hammamy.
“Fayrouz likes to chop and change, and she doesn’t play in a rhythm, and that made me a bit uncomfortable. It took some time to find my length. With Fayrouz, I wanted to take less risks and not open the court too much because she plays incredible shots out of nowhere. I had to close the court down and wait for my opportunity.”
World No.1 Mostafa Asal pulled out his semi-final match with World No.3 Diego Elias, meaning the Peruvian will take on World No.2 Paul Coll in the men’s final – ensuring a new name will be on the trophy.
Coll battled past World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria in his last four match, emerging the victor by an 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1 scoreline. Coll and Elias reached the final in 2022 and 2023, respectively, each losing to Asal.
“It took a bit of time to get that high intensity and the focus wasn’t quite there yesterday, but I was a lot more clinical with my short stuff today,” said Coll.
“I lost a bit of patience in the third there, I saw the finishing line, which was a bit annoying, but I’m very happy with the fourth. I was trying not to leave it too short when the ball was so hot because the ball bounces more, so I had to keep my racket speed up and get the cut on the ball. I was better at that today and I was very happy with the overall performance.”
Results
Men’s Semi-Finals: [4] Diego Elias (PER) bt [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) w/o; [2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [6] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1 (69m)
Women’s Semi-Finals: [4] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt. [1] Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-10, 11-8, 11-10 (74m); [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt. [6] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) 3-0: 11-10, 11-8, 11-8 (41m)
