Victorian Open: Jadishkumar & Heo Set Up Repeat Final In Melbourne

Malaysia’s Yasshmita Jadishkumar and Korea’s Mingyeong Heo are set to meet in back-to-back finals after both securing semi-final wins at Mulgrave Country Club in the Victorian Open. Top seed and defending champion Rex Hedrick will give himself a chance at defending his title as he takes on World Junior Champion Rowan Damming in the men’s event.

Jadishkumar took command of her semi-final in the opening two games a she won both games 11-7, 11-8 to place one foot in the final and looked sure to be closing out the match in straight games. Hong Kong’s Was Sze Wing regrouped however and started to come back at the No.2 seed, Wing took the third game 11-5 before hanging tough to win the fourth 12-10 to force a decider. In a tight fifth game, it was the higher seed who came through to win 11-9.

Her opponent in the final will be Korea’s Mingyeong Heo, who needed just four games to defeat No.8 seed Risa Sugimoto. The final will be a repeat of last weeks final in the City Of Greater Shepparton Open in which Jadishkumar came out on top.

The men’s semi-finals, top seed Rex Hedrick was dominant in his match with New Zealand’s Temwa Chileshe, winning in straight games in 45 minutes. The New Zealand No.3 claimed his first event last week but his confidence was negated by Hedrick, who’s attritional and fast paced game was too much.

Hedrick will look to defend his title against The Netherlands’ Rowan Damming. The World Junior Champion has claimed two titles in the past three events in Australia and will be fearless in his pursuit of a third title. He overcame France’s Baptiste Bouin in his semi-final, who overcame No.2 seed Lwamba Chileshe in the previous round. After a tough opening game won by Damming 11-9, the rising star won both following games 11-5 to advance.

Results: Victorian Open Men’s SF
[3] Rowan Damming (NED) bt Baptiste Bouin (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (35m)
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [4] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (45m)

Results: Victorian Open Women’s SF
Mingyeong Heo (KOR) bt [8] Risa Sugimoto 3-1: 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8 (37m)
[2] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt [6] Wai Sze Wing (HKG) 3-2: 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 10-12, 11-9 (44m)