Victorian Open: Sultana Downs Top Seed Cardwell

As the top eight seeds entered the fray on day two of the Victorian Open, there was a huge shock in the women’s draw as Malta’s Collete Sultana, ranked No.176 in the world, defeated top seed and World No.80 Sarah Cardwell to advance to the quarter finals of the Victorian Open in Melbourne.

After three tough opening games, Sultana trailed 2-1 in the contest before finding top form to take games four and five 11-5, 11-6 to reach the quarter finals of a second successive event in Australia. The Malta No.1 now faces Japan’s No.8 seed Risa Sugimoto after she beat Australia’s Sze Yu Lee in straight games.

Wildcard Remashree Muniandy continues her great run in only her third Challenger Tour event as she overcame compatriot and No.5 seed Sophie Fadaely in a tight five-game clash at Mulgrave Country Club. Muniandy was pegged back to 2-2 after establishing a 2-1 lead, but regrouped to play a solid fifth game, winning 11-5.

There was only one surprise in the men’s draw as all top eight seeds progressed through to the Challenger 5 quarter finals apart from Malaysia’s Bryan Lim Tze Kang, who unfortunately was forced to withdraw before his match with France’s Baptiste Bouin, seeing the Frenchman through to the next round.

Top seed and defending champion Rex Hedrick needed four games to defeat France’s Brice Nicolas to progress. The Frenchman gave himself a lifeline after taking game three 11-6 to trail 2-1 but the experience of Hedrick shone through as he echoed that score in game four to claim the win.

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Results: Victorian Open Men’s RD2
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt Brice Nicolas (FRA) 3-1: 11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 11-6 (56m)
[6] Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt Dylan Molinaro (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 14-12 (33m)
[7] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bt Anthony Lepper (NZL) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (41m)
[4] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt Joel Arscott (NZL) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5 (49m)
[3] Rowan Damming (NED) bt Shamil Wakeel (SRI) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (16m)
[5] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt Paul Gonzalez (FRA) 3-1: 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 (59m)
Baptiste Bouin (FRA) bt [8] Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) 3-0: walkover
[2] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Laouenan Loaec (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 13-11 (38m)

Results: Victorian Open Women’s RD2
Colette Sultana (MLT) bt [1] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 3-2: 8-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5, 11-6 (44m)
[8] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) bt Sze Yu Lee (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (16m)
Mingyeong Heo (KOR) bt [7] Noor ul Huda (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-3 (15m)
[4] Urwashi Joshi (IND) bt [WC] Courtney Scholtz (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (16m)
[3] Toby Tse (HKG) bt Pascale Louka (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (17m)
[6] Wai Sze Wing (HKG) bt [WC] Carina Loi (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (17m)
[WC] Remashree Muniandy (AUS) bt [5] Sophie Fadaely (AUS) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5 (37m)
[2] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt Erin Classen (AUS) 3-1: 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11 (43m)

Draw: Victorian Open Men’s QF
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) v [6] Rhys Dowling (AUS
[7] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) v [4] Temwa Chileshe (NZL)
[3] Rowan Damming (NED v [5] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI)
Baptiste Bouin (FRA) v [2] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL)

Draw: Victorian Open Women’s QF
Colette Sultana (MLT) bt [8] Risa Sugimoto (JPN)
Mingyeong Heo (KOR) v [4] Urwashi Joshi (IND)
[3] Toby Tse (HKG) v [6] Wai Sze Wing (HKG)
[WC] Remashree Muniandy (AUS) v [2] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS)