Richmond Open RD2: Malliff Causes Sole Upset To Reach Quarters

The second round of the Richmond Open saw the seeds come into the draw, and England’s Katie Malliff downed Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam to move through to the quarter finals.

The Englishwoman was unseeded when she came into the tournament, beating wildcard Avery Park in the opening round. She then came up against No.4 seed Subramaniam in the last 16 of the Challenger 30 level competition, which is being held at the Country Club of Virginia.

Malliff won the opening game 11-7, but then saw the Malaysian fight back to take the second by the same scoreline. The Englishwoman then took the lead for a second time, but Subramaniam levelled once more to take the match into a deciding game. Malliff came out firing in the fifth, and she took it comfortably to secure her spot in the quarter finals.

She will now take on another Malaysian in the quarter finals, in Rachel Arnold. The tournament’s No.5 seed was in control of the match, going two games up. She was then 3-0 up in the third game, when Beecroft retired from the contest through injury.

Top seeds Tinne Gilis and Salma Hany both won in straight games to get their campaigns underway. Hany is joined in the last eight by fellow Egyptians Sana Ibrahim, Hana Ramadan and Nada Abbas, who all took wins on the second day of the competition.

The quarter finals of the Richmond Open will take place on Thursday, May 11. You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

Second Round Results: Richmond Open
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (29m)
[8] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) 3-2: 11-9, 7-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8 (53m)
[7] Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 13-11 (38m)
[3] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt [WC] Malak Kamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-1 (31m)
Katie Malliff (ENG) bt [4] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-2: 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-3 (45m)
[5] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 3-0 rtd (15m)
[6] Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Marta Dominguez Fernandez (ESP) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (30m)
[2] Salma Hany (EGY) bt Jana Shiha (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 11-9, 11-4 (45m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Thursday, May 11
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v [8] Sana Ibrahim (EGY)
[7] Hana Ramadan (EGY) v [3] Melissa Alves (FRA)
Katie Malliff (ENG) v [5] Rachel Arnold (MAS)
[6] Nada Abbas (EGY) v [2] Salma Hany (EGY)