KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — National squash champion, S. Sivasangari, would like to break into the top 30 world rankings by the end of the season.
However, the player ranked number 50 in the world and currently on a break from her studies at Cornell University in the United States, said she isn’t putting too much pressure on herself to achieve it.
Instead, she wants to savour playing in a few tournaments like the WSF World Doubles Championships and Australian Open (in June and July respectively).
“Obviously I did not play many tournaments this season because I was more focused on my studies. Winning the racquet club pro-series title in the US last month gave me a little strength not to give up.
“There are a few tournaments in the US in August and hopefully I will get positive results from there to improve my ranking,” she told Bernama.
The 2018 Professional Squash Association (PSA) Women’s Young Player of the Year and CIMB Foundation beneficiary trains under Australian former world number one and two-time world champion, David Palmer.
She confessed it has been tough putting up a good performance because she has to juggle her studies and training, adding, “I do not want to put much intensity on the training”.
“It’s a different type of training from Malaysia, but I have to have mental strength, because if I fail, it would affect my studies,” she revealed.
On filling Datuk Nicol David’s big shoes after the former world number one and eight-time world squash champion announced her retirement, Sivasangari said: “Many people are waiting to see who replaces Nicol, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself; I have to balance studying and training. Once I go full-time, then I will go all out for my career,” said the 20-year-old Kedahan. — Bernama
