NATIONAL squash players S. Sivasangari and Aira Azman have both progressed to the quarter-finals of the Qatar Classic 2025.
Seventh seed Sivasangari defeated Belgium’s Nele Gilis in straight games during their second-round match at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
The Malaysian needed just 34 minutes to secure her 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 victory against the Belgian opponent.
Sivasangari now faces a difficult quarter-final match against second seed Hania El Hammamy of Egypt.
The 2023 champion recovered from losing the first game to beat England’s Jasmine Hutton 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-9.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Aira Azman also advanced with a straight-games win over Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy.
Aira needed 29 minutes to complete her 11-8, 11-7, 13-11 victory in the second-round encounter.
The Malaysian will next face fourth seed Amina Orfi in the quarter-finals.
The Egyptian player had earlier defeated American Marina Stefanoni 11-3, 11-7, 11-3.
This Professional Squash Association platinum tier event features a total prize pool of US$231,500 for both men’s and women’s categories.
The equivalent prize money amounts to approximately 976,000 Malaysian ringgit for each category. – Bernama