Victoria Open: Midorikawa Doubles Up, Hedrick Downs Both Chileshe Siblings

Neither of the top seeds were successful come the conclusion of the Victoria Open, with Japan’s Akari Midorikawa and Australia’s Rex Hedrick eventually claiming the crowns at the Challenger 5 level competition at the Mulgrave Country Club in Melbourne.

Midorikawa came into the tournament as the No.2 seed, and having already won on Tour earlier this month at the City of Greater Bendigo International. The higher echelons of the draw in Victoria were much the same as they were for her win in Bendigo, and once again, it all fell into place for the Japanese player.

After receiving a bye through to the second round of the competition, the 16-year-old then defeated Australia’s Maria Kalafatis to get her campaign underway. Her biggest test then came in the quarter finals, as she had to go to five to overcome South Korean Yura Choe. She regrouped after losing a fourth game tie-break 14-12 to win the fifth to advance to the semis.

In the last four, the Japanese No.2 took on Hong Kong’s Toby Tse, and she exacted revenge for her defeat in the semis in Shepparton seven days earlier. Midorikawa won 3-1 to advance to the final, where she took on Malaysia’s Yasshmita Jadiskumar. The pair were level through two games after opposite 11-9 scorelines, but from there, it was the 16-year-old that moved forward, winning the next two games to secure the victory, her third of the campaign.

In the men’s event, former World No.48 Rex Hedrick rolled back the years to claim a second title of the season, coming through as the No.3 seed to down the top two seeds en route to the 18th Tour title of his career.

He also received a bye through the reopening day’s play in Melbourne thanks to being the No.3 seed, before starting his week with a comfortable win over Hong Kong’s Lam Shing Fung. Straight games wins over Malaysia’s Hafiz Zhafri and No.2 seed Temwa Chileshe followed to see the Aussie advance to the final.

In the final on Sunday a Mulgrave Country Club, the 33-year-old, who now sits at World No.175, took on top seed Lwamba Chileshe, and dropped just twelve points en route to the win. He was successful in straight games, winning 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 to secure the title.

*Results: Victorian Open*
*Men’s Final*
[3] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (42m)

*Women’s Final*
[2] Akari Midorikawa (JPN) bt [5] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) 3-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 (45m)

*Men’s Semi-Finals*
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt [5] Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) 3-1: 10-12, 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 (45m)
[3] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-5 (33m)

*Women’s Semi-Finals*
[5] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt [4] Wai Sze Wing (HKG) 3-0: 13-11, 12-10, 12-10 (46m)
[2] Akari Midorikawa (JPN) bt [3] Toby Tse (HKG) 3-1: 14-12, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5 (34m)

*Men’s Quarter Finals*
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Tomotaka Endo (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 (42m)
[5] Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) bt [4] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9 (48m)
[3] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [6] Hafiz Zhafri (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (45m)
[2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt Ho Ka Hei (HKG) 3-1: 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 13-11 (51m)

*Women’s Quarter Finals*
[5] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt [1] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-2 (25m)
[4] Wai Sze Wing (HKG) bt [8] Ellie Jones (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-7 (19m)
[3] Toby Tse (HKG) bt Lam Po Ying (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)
[2] Akari Midorikawa (JPN) bt Yura Choe (KOR) 3-2: 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 12-14, 11-9 (49m)

*Men’s Round Two*
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Andes Ling (HKG) 3-2: 11-7, 6-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7 (55m)
Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt [8] Shady El Sherbiny (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9 (39m)
[5] Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) bt James Lloyd (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-4 (31m)
[4] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bt Dylan Molinaro (AUS) 3-0: 14-12, 12-10, 11-4 (54m)
[3] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt Lam Shing Fung (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (23m)
[6] Hafiz Zhafri (MAS) bt Laouenan Loaec (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (33m)
Ho Ka Hei (HKG) bt [7] Naoki Hayashi (JPN) 3-2: 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (52m)
[2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt David Turner (AUS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 15-13 (40m)

*Women’s Round Two*
[1] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) bt Jennifer Condie (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (20m)
[5] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt Sophie Fadaely (AUS) 3-1: 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5 (23m)
[8] Ellie Jones (ENG) bt Sunghee Oh (KOR) 3-0: 11-3, 12-10, 11-6 (21m)
[4] Wai Sze Wing (HKG) bt Mingyeong Heo (KOR) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8 (35m)
[3] Toby Tse (HKG) bt Jihyun Lee (KOR) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (20m)
Lam Po Ying (HKG) bt [7] Riffat Khan (PAK) 3-0: 12-10, 11-1, 11-2 (19m)
Yura Choe (KOR) bt [6] Aiman Shahbaz (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 (13m)
[2] Akari Midorikawa (JPN) bt Maria Kalafatis (AUS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (14m)

*Men’s Round One*
Andes Ling (HKG) bt Damon Macmillan (AUS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (37m)
Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt Aaron Liang (SGP) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-7 (27m)
James Lloyd (AUS) bt Jamie Pattison (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-5 (24m)
Dylan Molinaro (AUS) bt Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 (32m)
Lam Shing Fung (HKG) bt Cameron Darton (AUS) 3-1: 11-9, 11-9 7-11, 11-7 (37m)
Laouenan Loaec (FRA) bt Moeen Ud Din (PAK) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 (19m)
Ho Ka Hei (HKG) bt [WC] Javed Ali (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (21m)
David Turner (AUS) bt [WC] Harvey Allan (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 (23m)

*Women’s Round One*
Jennifer Condie (AUS) bt Grace Pattison (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-7 (20m)
Sunghee Oh (KOR) bt Caitlin Purvis (AUS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-5 (13m)
Jihyun Lee (KOR) bt Carina Loi (AUS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-1, 11-4 (25m)
Yura Choe (KOR) bt Courtney Scholtz (AUS) 3-0: 11-0, 11-4, 11-2 (13m)