Subramaniam Targets Top 10 Ranking After Hong Kong FC Success

A year-and-a-half on from a career-threatening car crash, Sivasangari Subramaniam is back playing some of the best squash of her life, recently reaching a career-high ranking of World No.15. 

The Malaysian No.1 signed off her impressive early-season form by capturing the biggest title of her career in November at the Bronze-level Hong Kong Football Club Open, before reaching her second Platinum quarter-final at the Hong Kong Open just a week later. 

The 24-year-old by no means enjoyed an easy path to the title at the Hong Kong Football Club, scoring notable victories over World No.13 Sarah-Jane Perry, World No.16 Sabrina Sobhy, and 16-year-old star Amina Orfi along the way. 

And even Subramaniam herself was happy to admit that her rise up the rankings has come quicker than she had expected after leaving the court for over eight months between June 2022 to February 2023 due to the injuries sustained in the accident.

“I’m very pleased with my form for this season,” she said. “I honestly didn’t expect to be getting into the top 15 by end of this year, so it’s something good for me to realise that all my work I’m putting in is paying off.

“I honestly couldn’t process the thought that I won the Hong Kong Football Club after that day because it seemed impossible a year ago. 

“Even at the beginning of this year, I didn’t have any thoughts of winning a tournament with the condition I was in, but I always believe everything happens for a reason. That was my biggest title to date, and it was a really memorable one considering I was not playing a year ago and still under rehabilitation. 

“What made it sweeter was also beating a few of the top players, it really gave me a lot of self belief.

“I now want to do my best to break into the top 10 in the next half of the season, and challenge all the top players and try to beat them as well.”

Although the crowning moment of Subramaniam’s season so far was her victory at the Hong Kong Football Club, the Malaysian admitted her win over World No.7 Nour El Tayeb at the preceding event, the Singapore Open, was just as notable in the context of her comeback. 

Subramaniam claimed her first career victory over the Egyptian from five attempts at the PSA World Tour Gold-event, advancing to the quarter-finals after a superb performance, winning 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10.

On the impact of this victory for her own self-belief, she said: “The win against Nour El Tayeb was huge. I had lost to her multiple times in a short space of time, so to be beating her for the first time right after losing the week before was a huge confidence booster for me. 

“I know she’s a very good and experienced player. So with that win, it made me to believe in myself more and I now have the thought that anything is possible if I put all of myself into it. It made me trust the process more.”

Subramaniam’s rise back up into the world’s top 20 this season is a remarkable feat considering the serious injuries she had to contend with after the car crash in 2022 – injuries which initially caused worries that the Malaysian would never pick up a racket again. 

The accident resulted in fractures in both Subramaniam’s neck and face and led to months of wearing cumbersome collars, first a hard brace for one-and-a-half-months and then a softer one for another month.

Subramaniam admitted that looking back at the struggles of her comeback have helped her adopt an improved mentality around the game.

“I think I’ve become stronger mentally after what happened last year,” she said. 

“I think that incident made me have a different perspective in life, on and off court. So, I think I’ve been better mentally on court especially after the mental training I have done with Jesse Engelbrecht.

“I also think I’ve adapted to a slightly different way now after my injuries, I had to change a little on certain things in my game to be able to play at the top level.”

Since marking her return to squash, Subramaniam has also enjoyed a wealth of success when representing Malaysia, capturing women’s singles gold at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou after defeating Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk in a thrilling final.

At the time, the former Cornell University player compared her double gold success – having already played a part in winning the women’s team event gold – to being “like a movie” after also being awarded the honour of flag bearer for the Malaysian team.

Subramaniam added that the support of the Malaysian squash community and her fellow teammates were vital during the early days of her comeback, while the strength in depth of Malaysian squash has also helped create healthy competition in more recent times.

“The support that I received from Malaysian squash when I was making the comeback on tour was really really helpful in getting me back,” she said.

“I don’t think I would have done it if I didn’t get any of that support. It made me realise that I’m not in this alone. They lifted me up when I needed the most, and I’m always grateful for that.

“There’s me, Rachel [Arnold], Aifa [Azman], Aira [Azman], and many other players coming up from Malaysia as well. 

“I think it’s good that there are quite a number of Malaysians there in the top 50. I think we tend to push each other by having healthy rivalries on court.”