USA produced a gritty performance to reach the final of the WSF World Squash Team Championships for the second time in succession as Amanda Sobhy and Olivia Weaver came through five-game battles against Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold and Sivasangari Subramaniam.

In a classic battle, Sobhy put her side into the lead with a hard-fought victory over Arnold in a match that ebbed and flowed.

World No.17 Arnold, who was soundly defeated by Sobhy three months ago at the Egyptian Open, was fired up in today’s clash and dominated for large parts of it.

Sobhy, though, called upon the famed resilience that saw her rise to World No.3, fighting back from losing positions in several of the games and pouncing on mistakes made by Arnold when well placed to score a see-saw 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8 win.

“I’m just so proud of myself. I just didn’t want to lose and leave the team 1-0 down. Playing for a team just makes you dig so much deeper than you think. I’m happy to get the win for my teammates,” Sobhy said.

The second match pitched first strings Olivia Weaver and Sivasangari Subramaniam against each other.

There were question marks over Weaver’s fitness coming into today’s contest, with the World No.4 not playing a single game of the championship until today after injuring her back in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open last week.

Sensing an opportunity, World No.10 Sivasangari moved Weaver around the court while fearlessly hitting her kill shots when given the opportunity.

This was well rewarded, with the Malaysian No.1 – who won Asian Games gold for Malaysia last year – taking a two-game lead with 11-7, 11-9 wins.

As the ball softened, Weaver settled into the match and found previously missing accuracy to dominate game three 11-5 and cut into Sivasangari’s lead.

The Malaysian requested a new ball for game four but it did not have the desired effect, with Weaver again in total control as she took a crushing pair of 11-2 wins to break Malaysian hearts.

Afterwards, Weaver said: “Siva honestly came out and was playing some unbelievable squash. I was just trying to weather the storm. We have played a lot on tour before, so I know exactly what she is capable of.

“Even though the first two games didn’t go my way, I knew that if I stayed positive and kept trying to find my targets on this court, which is so punishing, I could come back into the match. I think I also started to move better as the match went on, which certainly helped.

“I’m just so proud to get the win for my team. I don’t normally have this kind of support when playing on the PSA Tour, so I’m really grateful to have had Team USA out here cheering so loudly for me.”

Result: 2024 WSF World Squash Team Championship – Women’s Semi-Final

Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-2: 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8 (45m)
Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-2: 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-2 (47m)
Marina Stefanoni w/d Aira Azman

Click here to view results for the 2024 WSF World Squash Team Championships.

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