City of Greater Bendigo International RD1: Molinaro shocks No.2 seed Laksiri

Australian 21-year-old Dylan Molinaro delighted the home crowd as the City of Greater Bendigo International got underway as he twice fought back to stun Sri Lankan No.2 seed Ravindu Laksiri.

Despite a 145-place gap in the PSA World Rankings, World No.273 Molinaro was able to get the better of the 27-year-old, who earlier this month beat Australia No.2 Joseph White to win the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Golden Open.

Laksiri had opportunities to win after taking a 1-0 lead with an 11-3 win in game one and a 2-1 lead with an 11-8 win in game three, but went down 11-3, 11-6 in the last two games as Molinaro completed the shock.

Molinaro will take on fellow unseeded Australian James Lloyd after the 20-year-old upset No.5 seed Hafiz Zhafri of Malaysia in straight games.

The rest of the matches in the men’s draw went to seedings, with top seed Rowan Damming surviving a scare as he came back from 1-0 down to beat France’s Baptiste Bouin 3-1.

In the women’s draw, South Korea’s Dong Ju Song and Pakistan’s Riffat Khan recorded upsets of their own.

Song, 24, got the better of Australian No.4 seed Erin Classen 3-0, while Khan needed just 16 minutes to get the better of compatriot and No.7 seed Aiman Shahbaz 11-3, 11-9, 11-6.

The quarter-finals of the City of Greater Bendigo International will take place on Friday June 30.

You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook.

Results: City of Greater Bendigo International Women’s RD1
[1] Urwashi Joshi (IND) bt Jennifer Condie (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (17m)
[5] Mingyeong Heo (KOR) bt Liu Kwai Chi (MAC) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 (16m)
[8] Yura Choe (KOR) bt Pascale Louka (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (18m)
[3] Noor Ul Huda (PAK) bt [WC] Shona Coxsedge (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (15m)
Dong Ju Song (KOR) bt [4] Erin Classen (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-0 (22m)
Riffat Khan (PAK) bt [7] Aiman Shahbaz (PAK) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-6 (16m)
[6] Colette Sultana (MLT) bt Sze Yu Lee (AUS) 3-1: 12-14, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (24m)
[2] Sophie Fadaely (AUS) bt Amelie Guziak (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-1 (16m)

Results: City of Greater Bendigo International Men’s RD1
[1] Rowan Damming (NED) bt Baptiste Bouin (FRA) 3-1: 5-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 (54m)
[7] Brice Nicolas (FRA) bt [WC] Connor Hayes (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (25m)
[8] Amir Amirul (MAS) bt Mohamed Gohar (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 (55m)
[4] Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) bt Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 (30m)
[3] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bt Shota Yasunari (JPN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (35m)
[6] Theis Houlberg (DEN) bt Asif Mehmood (PAK) w/o
James Lloyd (AUS) bt [5] Hafiz Zhafri (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-8 (33m)
Dylan Molinaro (AUS) bt [2] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) 3-2: 3-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6 (51m)

Draw: City of Greater Bendigo International Women’s Quarter Final – To be played Friday 30 June
[1] Urwashi Joshi (IND) v [5] Mingyeong Heo (KOR)
[3] Noor Ul Huda (PAK) v [8] Yura Choe (KOR)
Dong Ju Song (KOR) v Riffat Khan (PAK)
[2] Sophie Fadaely (AUS) v [6] Colette Sultana (MLT)

Draw: City of Greater Bendigo International Men’s Quarter Final – To be played Friday 30 June
[1] Rowan Damming (NED) v [7] Brice Nicolas (FRA)
[4] Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) v [8] Amir Amirul (MAS)
[3] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) v [6] Theis Houlberg (DEN)
Dylan Molinaro (AUS) v James Lloyd (AUS)