Maiden
Title For Eriksen In Australia
Debuting in her first WSA
World Tour final, Lotte Eriksen clinched her first ever title after
winning the Mackay Open in Queensland, Australia. The 25-year-old
from Norway ended her 6-year wait for a title as she defeated Victoria Bell,
also playing her maiden WSA final.
With both finalist granted
byes through the first round, along with eight other top seeds, Eriksen made
quick work defeating Selena Shaikh and Taylor Flavell in her
opening two matches. No.8 seed Sally Skaarenborg then surprised
onlookers by defeating top seed Christine Nunn in four games, to set
up a semi-final clash with Eriksen. The Norwegian ended Skaarenborg’s run
however, taking just 30-minutes to book herself into her first WSA final.
Her opponent Bell saw a similar result in her first match against
Jacqueline Barnes, but the Englishwoman was made to work by her
quarter-final opponent, fourth seed Zulhijjah Biniti Azan of
Malaysia. She defeated the higher seed in four games, before facing second
seed Cheyna Tucker in the semi-final. Bell fought back from two
games down against the South African, and after drawing level to force the
deciding game, the pair were locked at 9-9 in the fifth when Tucker was
forced to concede the match due to injury.
The debuting finalist started the match nervously, with Eriksen claiming a
quick first game to three points. Bell struck back in similar fashion, with
her opponent able to claim just one point in the second game. As both
players settled into the spectacle, the match evened out well with neither
player able to gain significant advantage for too long. A narrow third game
went in favour of the No.3 seed Eriksen, as the higher seed capitalised to
clinch the tie-break 14-12. This gave her the upper-hand once more going
into the fourth game, and Bell was unable to get a foothold back in the
contest.
