Challenger Tour Round-Up: Hani Outlasts Sameh as Seeds Tumble in Malaysia

ACE Challenger 6K 2nd Leg 2024 

Habiba Hani outlasted fellow teenager Barb Sameh in a thrilling all-Egyptian clash on day three of the ACE Challenger 6K 2nd Leg. 

Sameh was playing in just her second ever Challenger Tour event having won the title in her first, but was facing a player who had also claimed glory in her first Tour event, with Hani winning the SACC Costa Rica Open last year. 

Unsurprisingly, given the quality of the two players, there was little to split them early on as the two players shared the first 10 points 5-5, but Sameh then took control, reeling off six points in a row to win the game 11-5, crunching a forehand kill into the nick on game ball. 

The more experienced Hani – three years her opponent’s senior – reversed the fortunes in game two by winning it by the same 11-5 scoreline, but she was soon on the brink of defeat in the third at 10-8 down, having been 6-3 up. 

A stroke was followed by a backhand into the tin from the Sameh racket, and Hani kept the momentum rolling in the tiebreak, winning the next two points to move in front. 

Game four looked to be heading the same way as Hani fought back from 10-8 down to force another tiebreak, but 16-year-old Sameh showed maturity beyond her years, hitting a brilliant backhand boast to end a 48-shot rally at 10-10. 

A brief stoppage in play followed as Sameh herself mopped some sweat on the floor, but it didn’t appear to break her concentration, as a backhand winner went beyond the reach of Hani to send us into a decider. 

With the match approaching the hour mark, a fast start to game five was always likely to be crucial, and so it proved, as Hani quickly established a 4-1 lead, going on to close out victory with a delicate forehand drop at 10-6.

Hani’s semi-final opponent will be seventh seed Xin Ying Yee, who upset fourth seed Nour Khafagy earlier in the day, winning 3-0 in 31 minutes, while top seed Wai Yhann Au Yeong also crashed out, losing to Egypt’s Malak Fathy. 

In the men’s draw, top seed Mohammad Syafiq Kamal avoided an upset of his own, holding off Mohamed Gohar in a five-game duel which lasted more than an hour. The Malaysian lefty eventually won game five 11-6, but the same could not be said for second seed James Peach, who went down 3-1 to home favourite Duncan Lee, losing 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-1 in 47 minutes. 

Victorian Open 2024 

Madeleine Hylland is one win away from a third final in her last four events, after staving off a strong fightback from Urwashi Joshi on quarter-finals day at the Victorian Open. 

Hylland had beaten Joshi twice in the last few weeks, both 3-1, but needed all five games this time around, despite taking the first two games, winning 11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 6-11, 11-5 in 40 minutes. 

Elsewhere, the top two seeds – Amina El Rihany and Sarah Cardwell – both progressed, while Nasir Iqbal remains on course for a third consecutive crown in the men’s draw. 

The Pakistani player has taken home the trophy at both the City of Greater Bendigo International and the City of Greater Shepparton International Open without dropping a game, and continued his red-hot form with a 3-0 win over Tomo Endo here. 

2nd Cay Open 2024 

The No.3 and 4 seeds both crashed out on quarter-finals day at the 2nd Cay Open, as local player Gabriel Pederiva reached the semi-finals. 

Pederiva had already watched sixth seed Yuri Pollak beat fourth seed Matheus Carbonieri in the day’s second match, when he stepped on court to take on Gustavo Pizatto. 

Third seed Pizatto had never gone beyond the quarter-finals of a Challenger Tour event, but was looking to change that in Sao Paulo, though he faced an uphill battle early after losing an opening-game tiebreak 15-13. 

The 27-year-old did turn things around from there, winning the next two games 11-6, 11-2, appearing to shift the momentum of the match in his favour., but Pederiva had other ideas. He clinched a tense fourth game 11-9, before cruising through the decider, taking it 11-9 to set up a semi-final clash with second seed Rhuan Sousa. 

Sousa’s own path to the semi-finals was far more straightforward, as he joined top seed Diego Gobbi in recording a 3-0 win. 

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