KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — National women’s junior squash player S. Sivasangari won the Malaysian Open Squash Championship singles title at Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre, here today.

The Kedah lass broke the dominance of Datuk Nicol David who won the title on eight occasions.

In the final match, Sivasangari easily beat Milnay Louw of South Africa in straight sets of 1-9, 11-3, 11-5 at Nicol David Arena.

“Winning the tournament worth US$10,000 (RM42,265) in total prizes in Malaysia is most meaningful. I am very happy with the improved play and must be consistent in the other tournaments.

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“The next challenge is the US$10,000 Australian Open Championship. Hopefully, I will play better than today because the players will be stronger,” she told reporters, here today.

Previously, Sivasangari only won tournaments offering total prizes of US$5,000 (RM21,142), namely the Tour of Malaysian Squash Series and the Beijing Challenge Trophy.

On the final day, Sivasangari said the win in the first set raised her confidence to win the next two sets.

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“I played well today. It was not that easy, especially in the first set. My strategy was to make a lot of shots to the corner because she (Louw) is big and cannot move that fast,” said the world number 47 player.

Meanwhile, it was a different story in the men’s singles category when Malaysian hope, Ng Eain Yow lost to Leo Au of Hong Kong, 6-11, 7-11, 4-11 in the final.

Au said the winning the title gave him the motivation to be more competitive in next tournament.

“Overall, I am happy with this win, I am playing very well and hope to be more consistent. He (Eain Yow) gave me a tough fight but I managed to control the game and win this match,” said Au. — Bernama