Moataz Claims Maiden Tour Title in Armenia

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Egyptian teenager Hana Moataz captured her first ever PSA World Tour title after a stunning upset of number one seed Milou van der Heijden in the final of the Grand Sport Armenia 1st Challenger 5, PSA W5 tournament in Yerevan.

Moataz, 16, was appearing in her maiden PSA World Tour final, with victories over Zuzana Kubanova, Ekaterina Marusan and Enora Villard enabling her to go within touching distance of the title.

Van der Heijden, on the other hand, had to navigate a tough five-game affair against France’s Laura Pomportes in the quarter-final, before sweeping past Ineta Mackevica to ensure that she would line up against Moataz in the final.

What followed were four tightly-contested games as both players looked to assert themselves on proceedings. Moataz prevailed in a first-game tie-break, before World No.48 van der Heijden clawed the second game back to leave the match delicately poised at 1-1.

The third and fourth games saw neither player able to build up any sustained pressure as points were traded in an entertaining period of play. Moataz, playing with a maturity that belied her youth, just managed to edge ahead at the crucial times and the World No.130 closed out a hard-fought 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10 victory to settle the match and open her PSA World Tour title account.

Result – Final: Grand Sport Armenia 1st Challenger 5 2016
[4] Hana Moataz (EGY) bt [1] Milou van der Heijden (NED) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10 (40m)