[14] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1 Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 (53m)
Boy that was tense between those two players that represent for me the future of squash… One British Junior Champ, Siva 20 and current world junior champ, VR48, Hania only turned 19 in September, already WR11.
First game, nothing between them until 7/7, nice squash assertive and sharp coming from nervous Hania’s racquet, 11-8 in 10m.
Some stunning rallies in the second, 3/1 up Hania, then a bit of wobble, 3 errors in a row, then nothing between them till 8/8. Bit of nerves creeping up for the Egyptian, while the Malaysian is truly on fire, shooting to the four corners, and it’s 1/1 between them after Siva takes the second 12/10 on her 3rd attempt.
Both lifting the ball a lot, making the other cover a lot of ground, but it’s Hania that dominates the third, 5-1, 6-2, 7-3…. A nice come back from Siva, 6-7, still, 11/8 to Hania after a massive rally at 9/7…
The fourth is nervewrecking for the Hania camp as she seems to find her groove to lose it! Up she is, comfy, 6/1, but the Malaysian just sooo accurate with the length and volleys, Hania constantly on the backfoot, 6-6. Again Hania is up 9-6, and AGAIN the little Marvel comes back to 9-9!
A huge rally at that point, yet again, Siva has set up a winner and Hania is wrong footed… tin…. And another tin, a big pfew in the Egyptian camp, 11/9 in 15 long minutes for the current world junior champ….
Siva (on twitter)
Not meant to be yesterday, losing in a close 3-1 battle against the current world number 11. Overall, can’t be too disappointed as I had two big wins, and got into the top 16 for the first time in the World Championships. Fought and pushed hard till the very end of this match, but wasn’t meant to be for me this time! Next time, hopefully 💪🏻🤞🏻 Time to work harder!! 💪🏻#slowlybutsurely #trusttheprocess
Hania
I’m so pleased that I got through this match. I was a little bit nervous at the beginning of the match. We have played so many time throughout our junior careers and I’m sure we’re going to have a lot more matches on the PSA Tour.
I know that Siva likes to hold and make the opponent run all over the court, so I wanted to keep my shots tight and push her into the back corners. I ran out of my plan a little bit in the middle of the match, but I’m glad I managed to win.
It feels great to have my family, friends and coaches all by my side. I’m looking forward to my next match and hopefully I can keep going.”
