Sivasangari nails world No. 4 Gilis to reach London Classic final

PETALNG JAYA: Top Malaysian women’s professional S. Sivasangari’s dream run at the London Classic continued as she upstaged world No. 4 Nele Gilis of Belgium to reach the final on Sunday (March 31).

The competition format shifted from best of three to best of five sets but it did not matter as world No. 16 Sivasangari secured a hard-fought 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9 win in 94 minutes in a final four clash.

Gilis had come into the match having won her three previous encounters against Sivasangari.

This is also the Asian Games champion’s first appearance in a gold level tournament of the Professional Squash Association’s (PSA) world tour.

On Saturday (March 30), Sivasangari had caused a sensational upset over world No. 1 Nour ElSherbini of Egypt in the quarter-finals.

She will meet world No. 2 Hania El Hammamy, who won the all-Egypt semi-final against world No. 3 Nouran Gohar 11-4, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, in the final on Monday (April 1).