Qualifying Draws to a Close in Armenia

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The final qualifying round of the Grand Sport Armenia 1st Challenger 5, PSA W5 tournament saw Jelena Dutina, Laura Pomportes, Inessa Kardapolova and Elise Romba all secure their main draw berths.

Dutina, the Serbian No.1, overcame local player Mari Ghazaryan in her fixture with a routine straight games victory that saw her take it 11-2, 11-5, 11-1 to reach her maiden PSA World Tour main draw.

The World No.210 will aim to get her main draw debut off to a good start when she takes on number three seed Ineta Mackevica.

France’s Pomportes, meanwhile, is appearing at only her second PSA World Tour event of 2016 after a semi-final finish in the Jersey Squash Classic earlier this month. The 27-year-old, who has slumped to 214th in the world after a ten-month injury layoff, downed Olga Saverinova 3-0 to advance to the main draw, where she will face Eva Fertekova.

Inessa Kardapolova was the sole Armenian to make it through to the main draw courtesy of a hard-fought 3-1 win over Ayuna Khantaeva, and she will lock horns with Ekaterina Marusan for a place in the quarter-final.

Top qualifying seed Elise Romba was the other qualifier to progress after receiving a bye, and she will clash with the main draw’s number one seed, Milou van der Heijden, in what looks set to be a tough fixture.

Results – Final Qualifying Round: Grand Sport Armenia 1st Challenger 5 2016
[1] Elise Romba (FRA) (bye)
[L] Inessa Kardapolova (UZB) bt [L] Ayuna Khantaeva (RUS) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 (27m)
[3] Laura Pomportes (FRA) bt [L] Olga Severinova (ARM) 3-0: 11-1, 11-3, 11-5 (17m)
[2] Jelena Dutina (SRB) bt [L] Mari Ghazaryan (ARM) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-1 (16m)

Main Draw – First Round
[1] Milou van der Heijden (NED) v [Q] Elise Romba (FRA)
[Q] Laura Pomportes (FRA) v [8] Eva Fertekova (CZE)
[6] Lotte Eriksen (NOR) v Taba Taghavi Rafsanjani (IRI)
[Q] Jelena Dutina (SRB) v [3] Ineta Mackevica (LAT)
[4] Hana Moataz (EGY) v Zuzana Kubanova (CZE)
[Q] Inessa Kardapolova (ARM) v [5] Ekaterina Marusan (RUS)
[7] Jenny Haley (WAL) v Arezoosadat Mousavizadeh (IRI)
[2] Enora Villard (FRA) v Ailee Nayeri (IRI)