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Richmond Open 2022

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Richmond Open 2022
Women's Draw
26 - 30 Apr
Virginia, USA, $20k

ROUND TWO
27 APR
QUARTERS
28 APR
SEMIS
 29 APR
FINAL
30 APR

[1] Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (25m)
[9/16] Wen Li Lai (MAS)

Zeina Mickawy
11-5, 11-9, 11-2 (36m)
Kaitlyn Watts
Zeina Mickawy
11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 (39m)
Hana Moataz
Hana Moataz
12-10, 8-11, 11-7,
9-11, 11-8 (68m)
Satomi Watanabe


 
[8] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)
11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (31m)
[9/16] Sarah Cardwell (AUS)
[6] Grace Gear (ENG)
11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 11-6 (38m)
[9/16] Rana Ismail (EGY)
Grace Gear
11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (39m)
Hana Moataz
[3] Hana Moataz (EGY)
10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (36m)
[9/16] Malak Kamal (EGY)
[9/16] Satomi Watanabe (JPN)
11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-3 (42m)
[4] Menna Hamed (EGY)
Satomi Watanabe
12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 (43m)
Lucy Beecroft
Satomi Watanabe
11-7, 11-2, 11-5 (31m)
Katie Malliff
[5] Lucy Beecroft (ENG)
7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (47m)
[9/16] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND)
[7] Alex Haydon (AUS)
11-13, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10 (50m)
[9/16] Amna Fayyaz (PAK)
Alex Haydon
11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (34m)
Katie Malliff
[9/16] Katie Malliff (ENG)
11-5, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10 (37m)
[2] Ineta Mackevica (LAT)

ROUND ONE

[1] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bye
[9/16] Wen Li Lai (MAS) bye
[9/16] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) bye
[8] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) bye
[6] Grace Gear (ENG) bye
[9/16] Rana Ismail (EGY) bt Vanessa Raj (MAS) 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 (55m)
[9/16] Malak Kamal (EGY) bt Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 11-8, 11-7, 13-11 (35m)
[3] Hana Moataz (EGY) bye
[4] Menna Hamed (EGY) bye
[9/16] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [WC] Caroline Fouts (USA) 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 (38m)
[9/16] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bt [WC] Sachika Balvani (IND) 11-5 ret.
[5] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bye
[7] Alex Haydon (AUS) bye
[9/16] Amna Fayyaz (PAK) bt Erisa Sano Herring (JPN) 5-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3, 12-10 (60m)
[9/16] Katie Malliff (ENG) bt Maria Moya (ECU) 11-2, 12-10, 6-11, 11-4 (41m)
[2] Ineta Mackevica (LAT) bye

REPORTS

Moataz Downs Watanabe For Biggest Title


Hana Moataz (left) and Satomi Watanabe (right) at the Richmond Open trophy presentation

Egypt’s Hana Moataz claimed the spoils at the Challenger 20 level Richmond Open on Saturday evening, defeating Japan’s Satomi Watanabe to win the title at the Country Club of Virginia, the biggest victory of her career.

The young Egyptian came into the tournament as the No.3 seed, behind only compatriot Zeina Mickawy and Latvia’s Ineta Mackevica. After receiving a bye through the first round due to her seeding, she then defeated compatriot Malak Kamal in four games to get her campaign underway.

Moataz then got the better of England’s Grace Gear in the last eight of the competition, before taking down the tournament’s top seed Mickawy in four games in the semi-finals, to advance to the biggest final of her fledgling career.

The World No.64 came up against the unseeded Satomi Watanabe in the final in Virginia, after the Japanese No.1 had taken down two seeded players to get to that stage of the competition. The pair went all the way to a deciding game, after Watanabe had twice come from behind to level the contest. It would eventually be Moataz who took the victory, winning the fifth 11-8, to claim the biggest title of her career to date.
Moataz And Watanabe To Meet In Final

It has been a surprising week at the Richmond Open in Virginia, and that tone continued into semi-finals night, as Egypt’s Hana Moataz downed the top seed to advance to the final, where she will meet Japan’s Satomi Watanabe on Saturday evening.

Moataz took on compatriot, and the tournament’s top seed, Zeina Mickawy, in the semi-finals, having beaten her fellow Egyptian in their one previous match on Tour, which came in Detroit in 2021. The pair were deadlocked after two games, but a quick fire third game turned the momentum back in the World No.64’s favour. She held that to win the fourth 11-9, and move into the final at the Challenger 20 level title.

The other semi-final was between the two surprise packages of the tournament, as the unseeded duo of Japan’s Satomi Watanabe and England’s Katie Malliff went head-to-head. The pair have are both in for the PSA World Championships in Cairo after winning qualifying events earlier this year, and this contest, the first between the two, went the way of the Japanese No.1, with Watanabe winning in straight games.

The final of the Richmond Open will be held at the Country Club of Virginia on Saturday evening, with Hana Moataz and Satomi Watanabe doing battle for the Challenger 20 level crown.
Malliff And Watanabe Down Seeds

The seeded players came into the competition in the second round of the Richmond Open on Wednesday evening, and two of those were knocked out immediately, thanks to Japan’s Satomi Watanabe and England’s Katie Malliff.

The Challenger 20 level tournament is taking place at the Country Club of Virginia, and England’s Katie Malliff took out the tournament’s No.2 seed, Latvian Ineta Mackevica, in a four game battle to book her spot in the quarter finals of the competition.

The young Englishwoman, who booked her spot at the 2021-2022 PSA World Championships after winning the Val de Reuil Normandie last month, started strongly, by taking the first game 11-5, but found herself level in the match after two games. She fought through though, winning both the third and fourth on tie-breaks to take the big scalp and move through to the next round where she will face Australia’s Alex Haydon, the No.7 seed.

The other surprise result to come on the opening day saw Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, another woman who has qualified for the PSA World Championships after winning a qualifying event, down Egypt’s No.4 seed Menna Hamed in a five-game contest.

The Japanese No.1, who won the University of Birmingham Open earlier this month to guarantee her spot in Cairo, found herself down after three games against the Egyptian, but came back to win both the fourth and fifth by an 11-3 scoreline to advance to the quarter finals, where she will face No.5 seed Lucy Beecroft.

Beecroft herself had to fight from behind to make the last eight, as she came from two games down to see off India’s Akanksha Salunkhe. The Englishwoman lost the first two 11-7 and 11-8 respectively, but fought back to win in five, and move through to the last eight.

All the seeded players made it through to the last eight in the top half of the draw. Top seed Zeina Mickawy and new Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts will meet in the quarters, with the other match seeing No.3 seed Hana Moataz and England’s Grace Gear face off.

The Richmond Open continues on Thursday, April 28 with the quarter finals of the Challenger 20 level competition.
 
Action Gets Underway In Virginia

The first round of the Richmond Open took place on Tuesday evening at the Country Club of Virginia, with six matches all going to seeding, but it was not all plain sailing, with Egypt’s Rana Ismail and Pakistan’s Amna Fayyaz having to go to five to get through.

The Challenger 20 level tournament saw Fayyaz come up against Japan’s Erisa Sano Herring in the opening round, and the Pakistani had to fight back from being two games down, and on the brink of suffering a surprise defeat. She managed to do so, though, winning the next two games to the loss of just nine points, before scraping through a deciding game tie-break 12-10 to win in five.

The other match to go to five on the opening day saw Egypt’s Rana Ismail get the better of Malaysia’s Vanessa Raj. It was the unseeded Malaysian that took the early advantage, but a second game tie-break went the way of Ismail, and appeared to swing the momentum in her favour, as she then went 2-1 up. However, after losing the fourth, the Egyptian had to battle to win in five, doing so in just under an hour, to advance to the last 16.

Elsewhere on day one in Virginia, fellow Egyptian Malak Kamal won in straight games against Singapore’s Au Yeong Wai Yhann, while Japanese No.1 Satomi Watanabe downed American wildcard Caroline Fouts. India’s Akanksha Salunkhe and Englishwoman Katie Malliff were the other two to make it through.

The second round of the Challenger 20 level Richmond Open will take place at the Country Club of Virginia on Wednesday, April 27, with the seeded players starting their campaigns.
For more information on the event, visit the tournament website or follow the PSA World Tour on Twitter or Facebook, InstagramYouTube, TikTok and SQUASHTV.