Sibley’s run to the final ended by Yi

England number two Sibley beat the current number one Joanna Drinkhall to secure her spot in the televised stages at London’s Olympic Park.

Both players had been untroubled until their meeting but found each other to be tough opponents once more, with Sibley battling hard to earn her 3-1 (11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9) win.

She said: “A match against Jo in the quarters was always going to be a bit 50/50 but I managed to get over the line and I’m really excited for the next round.”

The 26-year-old went on to face Wales’ Charlotte Carey who upset top seed Petra Lovas (Hungary) to reach the last four, and had to dig deep to see off the plucky Carey, who came from 2-0 down to level the match before Sibley took the decider.

In the final, the Lillington Free Church product faced China’s Fangxian Yi, who had beaten Agnes Le Lannic in the other last-four clash.

But, following on from Sam Smith’s victory in the men’s singles, there was to be no double for England as the Chinese former world No 44 saw off Sibley to lift the crown.

However, despite the defeat, Sibley was in good spirits, saying on Twitter: “Lost the final of Heritage Open to a great opponent. Had a great tournament overall. Confidence is high and now ready for the Commonwealths.”

Highlights of the Heritage Oil Open will be shown on BT Sport tomorrow between 9pm and 11pm.