Challenger Events
Fadaely to Face Top Seed Cheng in Volkswagen Bega Open Final
Sophie Fadaely will carry home hopes into finals day at the Volkswagen Bega Open, where she will face top seed Cheng Nga Ching for the women’s title.
Seventh seed Fadaely had battled back from the brink of defeat to beat Rachael Grinham in five game in the last eight, but had a much more straightforward path through to the final, taking only 19 minutes to see off Erisa Sano Herring.
The 20-year-old Western Australia native – who now lives on the Gold Coast – is now into her first ever PSA Tour final, but will have to get past the No.1 seed if she’s to get her hands on the trophy.
Hong Kong’s Cheng, the World No.69, was facing another young Australian in her semi-final, in the form of 19-year-old Madison Lyon.
Lyon is the reigning Oceania junior champion but was beaten 3-1 here by the 24-year-old from Hong Hong, who is into her 11th Tour final.
In the men’s draw, Nasir Iqbal will have his sights set on a fourth title of the summer, after getting the better of Switzerland’s Robin Gadola.
Iqbal has enjoyed an impressive few weeks Down Under, taking home the trophy in three of his four events prior to this one.
Gadola, though, was also entering this semi-final in good form after winning the Eastside Open just a few days ago, and the pair split the first two games in what was the day’s opening match.
But from there, the Pakistani player took control, cruising through games three and four for the loss of only five points in total, reaching his 26th career final.
There, he will face No.2 seed Matthew Lai, whose win kept hopes alive of a Hong Kong double in the men’s and women’s draw.
Lai was up against a familiar face in Bryan Lim, having played – and beaten – the Malaysian twice already in 2024, both matches ending 3-1.
It was perhaps little surprise, therefore, that this matchup followed the same pattern, not only ending 3-1, but with Lai winning games one, two and four, and Lim taking the third, just as in those other two meetings.
Lai will now face Iqbal in the first match on finals day, with the men’s showdown taking place at 12:30pm local time and the women’s final following on.
Both matches will stream live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel.
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