Richmond Open: Tournament Preview

The first of two tournaments taking place on the Challenger Tour this week will be the Richmond Open, which will be held at the Country Club of Virginia from Tuesday, April 26 to Saturday, April 30.

The Challenger 20 level tournament will feature players from twelve nationalities in Virginia this week, with an Egyptian trio amongst the top four seeds. World No.35 Zeina Mickawy will be the top seed for the tournament, and she will afce competition from compatriots Hana Moataz and Menna Hamed.

Latvian No.1 Ineta Mackevica is the other member in that seeding bracket, with Australia’s Alex Haydon, New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts and the English duo of Lucy Beecroft and Grace Gear, the latter having made the quarters of the Cannon Kirk Irish Open last week, making up the rest of the seeded players.

Due to some late withdrawals from the competition, Australia’s Sarah Cardwell and Malaysian Wen Li Lai, both 9/16 seeds, will also receive byes through the first round of the tournament.

Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, who qualified for the PSA World Championships thanks to her victory at the University of Birmingham Open earlier this month, will also be in action, with the lone American in the draw being Caroline Fouts, who will be one of two wildcards for the tournament, alongside India’s Sachika Balvani.

The event takes place from Tuesday, April 26 to Saturday, April 30 at the the Country Club of Virginia. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on *Twitter* and *Facebook* for daily updates from the event.

First Round Draw: Richmond Open
[1] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) – [Bye]
[9/16] Wen Li Lai (MAS) – [Bye]
[9/16] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) – [Bye]
[8] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) – [Bye]
[6] Grace Gear (ENG) – [Bye]
Vanessa Raj (MAS) v [9/16] Rana Ismail (EGY)
[9/16] Malak Kamal (EGY) v Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP)
[3] Hana Moataz (EGY) – [Bye]
[4] Menna Hamed (EGY) – [Bye]
[WC] Caroline Fouts (USA) v [9/16] Satomi Watanabe (JPN)
[9/16] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) v [WC] Sachika Balvani (IND)
[5] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) – [Bye]
[7] Alex Haydon (AUS) – [Bye]
Erisa Sano Herring (JPN) v [9/16] Amna Fayyaz (PAK)
[9/16] Katie Malliff (ENG) v Maria Moya (ECU)
[2] Ineta Mackevica (LAT) – [Bye]