Sivasangari Downs El Hammamy to Win Epic London Squash Classic Final

Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam completed a dream week at the GillenMarkets London Classic as the No.7 seed took down World No.2 Hania El Hammamy to lift the PSA World Tour Gold-level title.

Sivasangari, who has taken London by storm this week with shock wins over World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in the quarter-final and World No.4 Nele Gilis in the semi-final, played confidently in the first game.

The Malaysian repeated her aggressive attacking strategy that has served her well so far, with the World No.13 hitting frequent winners to take the opener 11-9.

El Hammamy, who made five errors in game one, cut that down to just one in the second and upped the aggression, taking the ball early to deny time to the Malaysian, with the World No.2 drawing level with an 11-5 win.

In a tight third game, which ebbed and flowed, Subramaniam earned three game balls at 10-7, but could not convert, with El Hammamy forcing a tie break.

El Hammamy then went game ball up at 11-10, but this time it was Subramaniam who saved it, with a vicious shot to the back pulling her back level.

The No.7 seed then earned another game ball and this time made no mistake, restoring her lead with a 13-11 win to go within one game of a first Gold title. 

Sivasangari continued to attack ruthlessly in the fourth game, edging towards a famous title at 8-5 as mistakes began to flow from the exasperated El Hammamy.

In a thrilling conclusion, El Hammamy went for broke, throwing everything at her opponent.

Although the Egyptian was initially able to reduce the edict, she could not prevent the Malaysian’s devastating attacks, with Sivasangari going two championship balls up at 10-8.

Once again, though, El Hammamy showed incredible mental strength, saving both championship balls to force another tie break at 10-10.

Subramaniam earned a third championship ball at 11-10 but once more could not convert, clipping the tin to take the scores to 11-11.

Yet another championship ball came and went for Sivasangari and this time the Malaysian was punished, with El Hammamy somehow taking the match into a fifth game with an incredible 14-12 win.

Despite the morale-shaking loss of game four, Sivasangari came charging out in game five, never wavering from her positive gameplan as she opened up a huge 6-1 lead as she beat El Hammamy’s famous movement time and again.

This time, the Malaysian was in no mood for another comeback, and, despite a El Hammamy threatening yet another comeback in the middle of the game, the 25-year-old held on to win her first Gold title with an 11-8 victory.

Afterwards, Sivasangari said: “There are no words really to summarise. I’m really pleased with how I handled myself this week, beating three of the the top four players. They are all really good players.

“Hania has been my rival since juniors, I had those match balls in the fourth game but couldn’t convert and in the fifth I tried to stay composed. She was fighting and coming back with every point but I’m just happy with how I managed to win it!

“It’s huge. The last time I played a Gold event, I lost in the quarter-finals. To even make it to the final is a crazy feeling. This time, to win the tournament I’m so pleased and proud of how I made it.

“I wouldn’t have done it with out my coaches and sponsors. Without them I wouldn’t’ be here right now.

“I’m very proud of my journey.

“I’m going to call my family and coaches now. It’s because of them that I’m winning tournaments and it’s been an unbelievable journey after what happened two years ago.”

Result: [7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 11-9, 5-11, 13-11, 12-14, 11-8 (81m)

The next event on the PSA World Tour is the Bronze-level German Open 2024 – Presented by Sportwerk, which takes place in Hamburg, Germany between 03-07 April.