KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva secured the biggest victory of his career after stunning 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 produced the performance of his life to upset the eighth-seeded Qatari 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6 in a gruelling 54-minute second-round clash at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch.
His reward for reaching his first-ever PSA Silver-level quarter-final is a showdown with compatriot and third seed Ng Eain Yow, who eased past New Zealand’s Oliver Dunbar 11-4, 11-1, 11-3 in just 32 minutes.
“I haven’t had many chances to play against top-50 players. This was my first time facing Abdulla, and he’s the highest-ranked player I’ve beaten so far.
“Like me, he prefers to play at the front, so I just had to keep it simple and play straighter. Sometimes, when I get nervous, I attack too early and make a lot of errors,” Sanjay told the PSA website.
Meanwhile, in an all-Malaysian women’s second-round clash, world number seven S. Sivasangari had to dig deep before overcoming Aira Azman in five games, winning 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7.
National number one Sivasangari will face Egypt’s Rowan Elaraby in the quarter-finals after the world number 10 defeated American Marina Stefanoni 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 in the second round.
Their head-to-head record favours Elaraby, who leads 4-3.
Malaysia’s other women’s representative, Rachel Arnold, cruised into the quarter-finals after dispatching Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yi 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 in a 32-minute encounter.
World number 19 Rachel, who is chasing her second PSA Silver title of the 2024-25 season after lifting the China Open crown in October, faces a tough challenge in the last eight against Egypt’s world number eight Amina Orfi, the tournament’s second seed. — March 6, 2025