Women’s $20k PSA Challenger, 26-30 Apr, Virginia, USA
Hana Moataz claimed the spoils at the Challenger 20 level Richmond Open on Saturday evening, defeating Japan’s Satomi Watanabe to win the title at the Country Club of Virginia, the biggest victory of her career.
The young Egyptian came into the tournament as the No.3 seed, behind only compatriot Zeina Mickawy and Latvia’s Ineta Mackevica. After receiving a bye through the first round due to her seeding, she then defeated compatriot Malak Kamal in four games to get her campaign underway.
Moataz then got the better of England’s Grace Gear in the last eight of the competition, before taking down the tournament’s top seed Mickawy in four games in the semi-finals, to advance to the biggest final of her fledgling career.
The World No.64 came up against the unseeded Satomi Watanabe in the final in Virginia, after the Japanese No.1 had taken down two seeded players to get to that stage of the competition. The pair went all the way to a deciding game, after Watanabe had twice come from behind to level the contest. It would eventually be Moataz who took the victory, winning the fifth 11-8, to claim the biggest title of her career to date.
Men & Women $12k PSA Challengers, 27-30 Apr, New York
