Ameeshenraj climbs to world No. 86 after London Open run

KUALA LUMPUR: National squash player C. Ameeshenraj climbed 12 rungs to world No. 86 after finishing runners-up at the London Open in England on Sunday.

The eight-seeded Malaysian went down 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 in the final to world No. 99 Amir Khaled Jousselin of France.

In the semi-finals, Ameeshenraj beat Rui Soares of Portugal 11-8, 12-10, 11-6. The Negri Sembilan player upset Argentina's world No. 80 Leandro Romiglio 13-11, 11-7, 11-2 in the quarter-finals.

The 22-year-old Ameeshenraj, who is based in England, said: "I think I had a good week overall, obviously gutted to have lost out in straight games in the final.

"Just had not much left in the tank in the final but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

"I am not too satisfied with my current world ranking as I have dropped quite a bit from my highest as I didn't do well last season. But this tournament would definitely help with my ranking."

Ameeshenraj, whose highest ranking was 78th in September last year, played a crucial role in helping Malaysia win Asian Games team gold in Aichi-Nagoya last month.

"By finishing runners-up at the London Open, I hope to put up a better challenge in the Qatar PSA copper event coming up from Nov 15-19," said Ameeshenraj.

Meanwhile, Aifa Azman moved up one rung to a career-best 19th in the latest PSA women's world rankings released on Monday.

Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) coaching director Andrew Cross said it is a good boost for Aifa.

"I am hoping that she can push on in her world rankings. I believe that Aifa and Aira (Azman) sisters and Rachel Arnold are good enough to be in the top 20. It will be good to see all of them in the top 20," said Cross.

Rachel is currently ranked 21st while Aira is 26th.

S. Sivasangari, who lost to world champion Amina Orfi of Egypt in the US Open recently, is still the world No. 4,

Aifa and Aira's next tournament is the China Open from Nov 17-22.