Pomportes Powers Through to Quarter-Finals in Armenia

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French qualifier Laura Pomportes continued her return to fitness after a ten-month injury lay off as she cruised to victory over eighth seed Eva Fertekova in the first round of the Grand Sport Armenia 1st Challenger 5, PSA W5 tournament.

Pomportes, who reached the semi-final of the Jersey Squash Classic earlier this month, was in fine form through her opening round fixture and surged to an 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 triumph to book her quarter-final berth.

Top seed Milou van der Heijden will be looking to avoid a similar fate to Fertekova when she takes on Pomportes in the next round after she showed her class to defeat Elise Romba of France.

Second seed Enora Villard secured her passage to the quarter final stage with a routine win over Ailee Nayeri and she will line up against seventh seed Jenny Haley, who saw off Arezoosadat Mousavizadeh to progress.

The solitary Armenian representative in the main draw, Inessa Kardapolova, was unable to prolong home expectations into the next round after she fell in defeat to fifth seed Ekaterina Marusan, who will clash with Egypt’s Hana Moataz in the next round after she dispatched Zuzana Kubanova.

There were also wins for Ineta Mackevica and Lotte Eriksen thanks to respective wins over Jelena Dutina and Taba Taghavi Rafsanjani, and Mackevica and Eriksen will now face off for a place in the semi-final.

Results – First Round: Grand Sport Armenia 1st Challenger 5 2016
[1] Milou van der Heijden (NED) bt [Q] Elise Romba (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (20m)
[Q] Laura Pomportes (FRA) bt [8] Eva Feřteková (CZE) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (23m)
[6] Lotte Eriksen (NOR) bt Taba Taghavi Rafsanjani (IRI) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4 (34m)
[3] Ineta Mackevica (LAT) bt [Q] Jelena Dutina (SRB) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 (19m)
[4] Hana Moataz (EGY) bt Zuzana Kubáňová (CZE) 3-1: 12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9 (34m)
[5] Ekaterina Marusan (RUS) bt [Q] Inessa Kardapolova (UZB) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-2 (32m)
[7] Jenny Haley (WAL) bt Arezoosadat Mousavizadeh (IRI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (24m)
[2] Enora Villard (FRA) bt Ailee Nayeri (IRI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 (21m)

Draw – Quarter-Final
[1] Milou van der Heijden (NED) v [Q] Laura Pomportes (FRA)
[6] Lotte Eriksen (NOR) v [3] Ineta Mackevica (LAT)
[4] Hana Moataz (EGY) v [5] Ekaterina Marusan (RUS)
[7] Jenny Haley (WAL) v [2] Enora Villard (FRA)