Perry pounces to dethrone top-seed toppling Subramaniam

England’s Sarah-Jane Perry met a player that she has not lost to in their three previous encounters, but Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam came into the match after defeating No.1 seed Nour El Tayeb in her second round match.

The first game was just seven minutes, with both players looking to play towards the front. Subramaniam used plenty of variation, and the Malaysian took the first game, but Perry still looked fresh and dangerous in the tail end of the game.

The second game became more physical, with plenty of long rallies as Perry used her experience, defending the front corners well. The 33-year-old maintained a strong and kept her nose ahead as the players went point-for-point to 9-9, but the Englishwoman got two consecutive points and finished the rally with a brilliant rally to level the match.

The rallies remained short and worked in Perry’s favour as the winners came hard and fast. Subramaniam struggled to test the Englishwoman physically as she edged the lead in the tail end of the game and took the very quick game 12-10.

The match took it’s toll on the Malaysian as Perry began to break away in the fourth game, taking an early 5-2 lead. The Englishwoman maintained her composure and picked off any loose balls from Subramaniam, ultimately earning an 10-7 lead and converting her second match ball to progress to her first semi final since the 2022 Manchester Open.

After the match, Perry gave her thoughts on her performance.

“Despite being the higher seed, I wasn’t the one coming in with the pressure on my shoulders. Siva[sangari Subramaniam] had an incredible win yesterday against Nour [El Tayeb] who’s such a fantastic player, so I feel like she’d have wanted to back things up after that win whereas I feel like no one’s really expected much from me at the moment apart from myself and my coach.

“I was proud of the way I focused and knuckled down and some of the work that I’ve been putting in has started to show so I think that’s definitely how i wanted to go in and that’s only going to build my confidence.

“Last season was incredibly tough for me. I don’t like to make excuses or anything, but I did everything I could on those days, and I knew i was trying and it was really tough to see my performances declining throughout the season, but thankfully I had some improvements with my health so I knew I was in shape to start testing the top players and backing myself.”

Result: 3-1: 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 (43m)