Sivasangari Overcomes Sobhy In Five-Game Thriller To Win Cincinnati Gaynor Cup

Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam earned her first title of the 2024/25 PSA Squash Tour season after upsetting No.2 seed Amanda Sobhy in a five-game thriller at the 2025 Cincinnati Gaynor Cup in Ohio.

The Malaysian came into the match having taken out top seed and defending champion Olivia Weaver in the semi-finals, while US No.2 Sobhy claimed victory over England's Jasmine Hutton.

Sivasangari was the more aggressive of the two players as the match began, forcing the American onto her backhand and stopping Sobhy from having control of the tempo of the rallies, which was rewarded with an 11-7 win.

The US No.2 came onto the court for the second game with a point to prove, making fewer errors and forcing her opponent around the court, ultimately storming to an 8-1 lead. The No.3 seed rallied, but it wasn't enough to overcome Sobhy's early advantage as she claimed the game 11-6 to draw level.

In a closely-contested third game, Sobhy held a narrow advantage from 6-6 to take the lead for the first time in the match. Sivasangari regrouped in the fourth, taking the game to the American in a similar manner as in the first game and forcing the match to a decider, the first in a Gaynor Cup final since 2017.

From 4-4 in game five, Sivasangari took control, scoring seven successive point to claim her first Silver-level title.

Speaking after the match, Sivasangari said: "I feel great. It's a first title for this year and then my last title was London [Classic] and now to be winning this is a great feeling.

"I think I had a tough couple of months. Being 2/0 up and losing matches, losing close matches and I think that was all the learning process that I had to go through to win today. It came from the experience that I had over the last couple of months.

"Yesterday was a big win for me. I'd never beaten Olivia and that was my first win. I kind of put that aside. Yesterday I told myself that the job's still not done, I still have one more match. I don't put any pressure on myself, I know Amanda is a good player... ...I just tried to play point-by-point, focus on what I need to out there and that outcome will come with it and it's great that it went my way."

The PSA Squash Tour continues with the Silver-level Pittsburgh Open 2025. Watch the action unfold live on SQUASHTV.