KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's world No. 9 S. Sivasangari cruised into the US$120,000 Singapore Open quarter-finals with a comfortable win over compatriot Aifa Azman today.
The Asian champion, who beat world No. 37 Aifa in the recent Malaysia Cup quarter-finals, won the second round match 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 in 26 minutes. It was Sivasangari's fifth win over Aifa.
The fourth seeded Sivasangari will face world No. 13 Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt for a place in the semi-finals.
Sivasangari, who is facing Fayrouz, the British Open Under-19 champion, in a PSA tournament for the first time, can expect a torrid time.
And in the final of Malaysia Cup last week, Sivasangari was beaten by Fayrouz's compatriot, world No.10 and three world junior champion Amna Orfi.
Sixth seed Fayrouz ousted world No. 48 Grace Gear of England 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 in the second round.
Sivasangari, 25, said: "It's my first match on this court and it's a bit tricky, the ball dies off. In the second set she had a big lead (8-5) but I managed to find my length towards the mid stage and in the third I went in too quickly and hit too low.
"I stayed as composed as I could and I'm glad to finish in three.
"We know each other's game pretty well and we just played last week (in the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals).
"It was fresh in my mind and I knew she wanted revenge. I tried to stay calm, there's more pressure on me, but I had to do my work out there."
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