KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva pulled off the biggest victory of his career when he stunned world number 22 Abdulla Al-Tamimi of Qatar to reach the men's quarter-finals of the 2025 New Zealand Squash Open today.
World number 65 Sanjay played the game of his life to stun the eighth-seeded Qatari 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6 in a 54-minute second-round clash at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch.
His reward for making his first-ever silver-level quarter-final in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour is a date with compatriot and third seed Ng Eain Yow, who brushed aside New Zealand's Oliver Dunbar 11-4, 11-1, 11-3 in just 32 minutes.
“I’ve not had the chance to play against many of the top 50 players. This is the first time I've played against Abdulla and he’s the highest-ranked player that I’ve beaten, so far.
“Like me, he too prefers to play a lot at the front. I had to just try and keep it a bit more basic, a bit more straight. Sometimes, when I get nervous, I would attack the front way too early and make a lot of errors,” Sanjay told the PSA website.
Meanwhile, in the all-Malaysian women's second-round clash, world number seven S. Sivasangari had to toil for five sets before prevailing 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 over Aira Azman.
National number one Sivasangari's quarter-final opponent will be Egyptian Rowan Elaraby, who ousted American Marina Stefanoni 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 in the second round.
Their head-to-head record favours the Egyptian, who leads 4-3.
Malaysia's other woman representative, Rachel Arnold cruised into the quarter-finals after eliminating Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yi 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 in a 32-minute battle.
World number 19 Rachel, who is gunning for her second PSA Silver title of the 2024-25 season after lifting the China Open crown in October, faces an acid test in the last eight as she will be up against Egypt's world number eight Amina Orfi, who is also the second seed.
-- BERNAMA
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