Sensational Fightback Sees Sivasangari Score World Ranking Breakthrough

A remarkable quarter-final fightback against rising Egyptian star Fayrouz Aboelkheir in the CIB Egyptian Open in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza will see Sivasangari Subramaniam advance to a career-high world No.4 in the next PSA World Rankings.

Subramaniam's 9-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 victory in 63 minutes takes the 27-year-old Malaysian through to her first-ever Diamond-level semi-final - as well as the guarantee of a world top four ranking on Monday.

Fourth seed Subramaniam will now face favourite Hania El Hammamy for a place in the final of the Diamond level event. The world No.2 was forced to dig deep to secure her spot in the last four, fighting back from 2/1 down to defeat world No.7 Satomi Watanabe in a gruelling five-game encounter, eventually prevailing by a 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5 scoreline.

In a fluctuating contest, the two-time champion struggled to find consistency at times, but importantly raised her level when it mattered most. As the match entered a tough fifth game, it was El Hammamy who pulled away to keep her title defence on track.

"There's nothing to panic about today," El Hammamy said after the match. "I'm confident, I know the patches I played well today, and it's a matter of just trying to improve the focus.

"I used to be too stressed out about my performances at the beginning of the tournament, but then as tournaments go on, I found myself playing the best squash I have ever played towards the end of tournaments.

"Obviously, it's very risky to be playing with this mindset, but I have learnt that I shouldn't be stressing at all. It gets me really in the right mindset for the big moments."

Meanwhile, in the men's draw, reigning World Champion Mostafa Asal delivered a statement performance to overcome World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria in a high-quality three-game battle.

Asal set out his stall in a mammoth 11-9, 37-minute first-game win, before taking full control of the match, stepping up his levels over the following two games to complete an 11-9, 11-2, 11-5 victory - a result highly reminiscent of their duel at this year's Tournament of Champions.

"The first game was a bit of mind games," Asal said after the match. "He's trying to show me that he's strong. I was also trying to give him a little bit as well, you know, that I'm stronger. It's a new challenge, a new test.

"Someone who's 19, they're coming at you, just like what Ali Farag and the other boys would have felt when I was coming through.

"It was a fun challenge."

Standing between Asal and a third consecutive Egyptian Open final is world No.4 Karim Gawad, who delivered a composed performance to defeat world No.9 Marwan ElShorbagy in three games.

Despite the straight-games scoreline, the match was decided by fine margins, with the 2019 Egyptian Open champion edging two closely fought tie-breaks before sealing victory after 43 minutes of play.