Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open: Tsukue and Watanabe Victorious

Satomi Watanabe and Ryunosuke Tsukue have claimed the titles at the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open in Yokohama, with both winning their respective finals comfortably.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Challenger 5 level tournament was ran with domestic entrants only, meaning the entirety of both draws were filled with Japanese players.

Satomi Watanabe was the top seed for the women’s event, and she showed her class throughout, coming through the tournament without dropping a single game at Yokohama Squash Stadium.

The World No.202 received a bye through to the quarter-finals before then getting the better of Ryoko Kadota in a 20-minute, straight-game victory to book her place in the last four.

Watanabe then downed No.4 seed Kurumi Takahashi in straight games in the semis, before coming up against No.2 seed Risa Sugimoto in the final. She took the title after winning in 23 minutes, securing her first victory since 2019.

In the men’s event, No.3 seed Ryunosuke Tsukue started his campaign with a comfortable victory over Yuta Ando. He then defeated Hiromichi Suzuki in straight games, dropping just seven points as he booked his place in the semi-finals.

Tsukue then overcame the tournament’s top seed Tomotaka Endo in the last four, before downing No.2 seed Naoki Hayashi in straight games in the final, as he claimed his second title of the year.

Results: Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open
Men’s Final
[3] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [2] Naoki Hayashi (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (32m)

Women’s Final
[1] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [2] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 (23m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[3] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [1] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-6
[2] Naoki Hayashi (JPN) bt Yujin Ikeda (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-9 (28m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [4] Kurumi Takahashi (JPN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (17m)
[2] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) bt [3] Akari Midorikawa (JPN) 3-2: 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8 (45m)

Men’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt [7] Naoki Sone (JPN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 14-12 (37m)
[3] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt Hiromichi Suzuki (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-1 (27m)
Yujin Ikeda (JPN) bt [4] Muhammad Haris Iqbal (PAK) 3-0: 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (27m)
[2] Naoki Hayashi (JPN) bt [6] Shota Yasunari (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (38m)

Women’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Ryoko Kadota (JPN) 3-0: 11-1, 11-0, 11-0 (20m)
[4] Kurumi Takahashi (JPN) bt [5] Yukino Sakurai (JPN) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (45m)
[3] Akari Midorikawa (JPN) bt [8] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 3-1: 4-11, 11-9, 12-1, 12-10 (43m)
[2] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) bt [6] Ayaa Matsuzawa (JPN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (26m)

Men’s Round One
[1] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt Tomomine Murayama (JPN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-0
[7] Naoki Sone (JPN) bt Kanta Ito (JPN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-1
Hiromichi Suzuki (JPN) bt [5] Shahzad Ali (PAK) 3-1: 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5
[3] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt Yuta Ando (JPN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-5
[4] Muhammad Haris Iqbal (PAK) bt Yuta Kiyosawa (JPN) 3-2: 11-4, 7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5
Yujin Ikeda (JPN) bt [8] Kosei Toki (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-8
[6] Shota Yasunari (JPN) bt Ren Makino (JPN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-6
[2] Naoki Hayashi (JPN) bt Yuki Tokuhara (JPN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-4

Women’s Round One
Ryoko Kadota (JPN) bt [7] Sato Mayuki (JPN): Walkover
[5] Yukino Sakurai (JPN) bt Himari Sakata (JPN) 3-1: 11-3, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7
[4] Kurumi Takahashi (JPN) bt Himar Midorikawa (JPN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-4
[8] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) bt Reina Ebato (JPN) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-0
[6] Ayaka Matsuzawa (JPN) bt Waka Tachibana (JPN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-4