Victorian Open: Incredible Finals Day Sees Hedrick & Jadishkumar Claim Titles In Melbourne

The crowd at Mulgrave Country Club couldn’t have asked for a better finals day at the Victorian Open yesterday as both finals went the distance to decide the 2023 champions. Yasshmita Jadishkumar came through in the women’s event to claim back-to-back titles whilst home favourite Rex Hedrick successfully defended his title in a 70 minute clash to lift the men’s trophy.

The women’s final was a repeat of the one in last week’s City of Greater Shepparton International which saw Jadishkumar take home the title in a four game clash, it was a lot closer as the two squared off again in the final yesterday. The No.2 seeded Malaysian raced out to a comfortable 2-0 lead against Korea’s Mingyeong Heo but the Korean would not go down without a fight. She mounted her comeback and claimed both the third and fourth games 11-5 to force a fifth.

The Malaysian regained her composure when it mattered in the fifth game and played the big points well to close it out 11-9 and earn her third career title and second in succession.

The men’s final was experience vs youth as 34 year old local favourite Rex Hedrick looked to successfully defend his title against 18-year-old World Junior Champion Rowan Damming. The Netherlands’ junior has already claimed two titles in Australia recently and after taking the first game 12-10 looked confident enough to take another.

Hedrick was competing in his 138th tournament this week, looking to claim a 21st career title on home soil. Despite the Australian No.1 winning game two, he found himself immediately behind again as Damming took a 2-1 lead winning 11-8 in the third game. Hedrick responded emphatically however, winning game four 11-1 to set up a nail-biting finale.

In an entertaining fifth game it was the home player who narrowly came out on top, winning 11-9 to hold onto his Victorian Open title for at least another year.

Result: Victorian Open Women’s Final
[2] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt Mingyeong Heo (KOR) 3-2: 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 5-11, 11-9 (36m)

Result: Victorian Open Men’s Final
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [3] Rowan Damming (NED) 3-2: 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, 11-1, 11-9 (70m)