Richmond Open QF: Unseeded Watanabe and Malliff Continue Runs

After knocking out seeds in the second round of the competition, Japan’s Satomi Watanabe and England’s Katie Malliff continued their knockout runs through the quarter finals of the Challenger 20 level Richmond Open, en route to a battle with each other in the last four.

The Country Club of Virginia continues to play host to the tournament, and England’s Malliff, who took down the No.2 seed on Wednesday evening, came up against No.7 seed Alex Haydon, the Australian No.2, in the quarter finals. The young Englishwoman had no problems in causing another upset, winning in straight games in 34 minutes to advance to the semis.

She will face Japan’s Satomi Watanabe on Friday in the last four, after the former World No.44 overcame another Englishwoman, in No.5 seed Lucy Beecroft. After two games, the pair were tied at one apiece, but Watanabe was able to come through, winning the next two games to win in four, and to guarantee an unseeded player will make it to the final.

While the semi-final in the bottom half of the draw will guarantee a finalist who has also qualified for the PSA World Championships after winning one of the four qualifying events, the top half semi will be a battle of two Egyptians, as top seed Zeina Mickawy and No.3 seed Hana moataz both came through their respective quarter final contests relatively unscathed.

The semis of the Challenger 20 level Richmond Open will take place on Friday, April 29, with the final four doing battle for places in Saturday’s finales in Virginia.

Quarter Final Results: Richmond Open
[1] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt [8] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) 3-0: 11-5, 1-9, 11-2 (36m)
[3] Hana Moataz (EGY) bt [6] Grace Gear (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 1-6 (39m)
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [5] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-1: 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 (43m)
Katie Malliff (ENG) bt [7] Alex Haydon (AUS) 3-0; 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (34m)

Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, April 29
[1] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [3] Hana Moataz (EGY)
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Katie Malliff (ENG)