BVAC Women’s Open RD2: Ching and Garcia Cause Upsets

Hong Kong’s Cheng Nga Ching and Mexico’s Diana Garcia caused upsets on the second day of the Expression Networks BVAC Women’s Open, knocking out seeded opposition to make the last eight.

Ching came up against Australia’s Sarah Cardwell, the No.5 seed for the competition. The pair had met once before, back in qualifying for the 2017 Cathay Pacific Sun Kung Hai Financial Hong Kong Open, where the Australian had taken a 3-1 victory.

This time, though, over five years on, it was much different. The World No.77 was in control throughout the contest, and did not allow the Aussie to put her stamp on the match. After taking the first game 11-6, the Hongkonger powered through to a straight games victory in just 23 minutes, to move into the last eight in Calgary.

The other surprise in terms of seeding saw Mexican No.1 Diana Garcia down another Australian, in Alex Haydon. She needed just three minutes more than Ching to secure her second round victory, beating the tournament’s No.7 seed 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 to advance to the quarter finals.

There was just one contest on Tuesday which saw a fourth game. That came in the lone match with home interest as Canada’s Nicole Bunyan defeated Hong Kong’s Ching Hei Fung 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7 to book her spot in the last eight on home soil.

Elsewhere, the French duo of Enora Villard and Marie Stephan, both inside the top three seeds for the event, safely made their way into the quarter finals. They will be joined by England’s Alicia Mead, Egypt’s Zeina Zein and New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts.

The quarter finals of the Expression Networks BVAC Women’s Open will take place in Calgary on Wednesday, February 15, with play moving to the glass court at the Bow Valley Athletic Club. You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

Action from Calgary is being streamed from the quarter finals onwards on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel, where you can watch Challenger Tour action, and interviews with rising stars. Live scores are also available on the PSA World Tour website here.

Second Round Results: Expression Networks BVAC Women’s Open
[2] Nicole Bunyan (CAN) bt Ching Fei Hung (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7 (38m)
Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) bt [5] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
[8] Alicia Mead (ENG) bt Alison Thomson (SCO) 3-0: 12-10, 11-4, 11-5 (30m)
[3] Marie Stephan (FRA) bt Ambre Allinckx (SUI) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (19m)
[4] Zeina Zein (EGY) bt Sohaila Ismail (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)
[6] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) bt Ali Loke (WAL) 3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 (25m)
Diana Garcia (MEX) bt [7] Alex Haydon (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 (26m)
[1] Enora Villard (FRA) bt Riya Navani (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, February 15
[2] Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v Cheng Nga Ching (HKG)
[8] Alicia Mead (ENG) v [3] Marie Stephan (FRA)
[4] Zeina Zein (EGY) v [6] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)
Diana Garcia (MEX) v [1] Enora Villard (FRA)