Rex Hedrick and Low Wee Wern are the Australian Open Men’s and Women’s champions for 2018.
The duo took out the respective titles following two high-quality Open finals at the Mulgrave Country Club on Sunday afternoon (AEST).
The 3-0 score line didn’t accurately reflect the evenness of the Men’s Open final, which was won in 61 minutes by top seed and local Melbourne favourite Hedrick against tournament third seed, Dimitri Steinmann.
It was a case of third time lucky for the 29-year-old, as he finally secured a major tournament win in his home state following runner-up results at Mulgrave in the 2016 and 2017 Victorian Opens.
As is often the case with a match involving Rex Hedrick, long, grinding rallies were the order of the day, with both players engaging in a tight tussle from the outset. It was Hedrick who settled first in the match however to take the first game, before Switzerland’s Steinmann found his groove in the second with some terrific strokes.
In fact, Steinmann looked set to claim the second game at 8-10, before Hedrick dug deep to win the next four points and subsequently the all-important game.
While Steinmann continued to fight on in the third, the missed opportunity in the second proved to be a huge body blow, with Hedrick going from strength-to-strength to close out the match in three - 11-4, 12-10, 11-5.
View the full replay of the 2018 Australian Open Men’s final here.
Earlier in the Women’s Open final, Wee Wern had to draw on every bit of her major tournament experience to get the better of her plucky opponent in Hana Ramadan.
The Australian Open win was the 28-year-old’s third PSA World Tour title in succession; signalling a return to her career high world ranking of number five is certainly in Wee Wern's sights after a 21-month lay off with a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury.
On the other hand, the 20-year-old Ramadan certainly lost no fans with her performance, as she showed throughout the match that she has the ability to mix it with some of the world’s best.
Wee Wern took the early ascendancy in the match with the first two games, before the Egyptian fought back to win a cracking third game and push the game to a fourth.
But it was the Malaysian star that held her composure in the last to secure her first Australian Open title in 60 minutes - 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6.
View the full replay of the 2018 Australian Open Women’s final here.
Semi final results:
Women’s
Low Wee Wern MAS def [3] Tong Tsz-Wing HKG 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 (26 min)
Hana Ramadan EGY defeated [4] Rachel Arnold MAS 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-3 (39 min)
Men’s
[3] Dimitri Steinmann SUI defeated [5] Sebastian Bonmalais FRA 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (32 min)
[1] Rex Hedrick AUS defeated [4] Mohd Syafiq Kamal MAS 11-1, 11-4, 11-3 (25 min)
Final results:
Women’s
Low Wee-Wern def [9/16] Hana Ramadan EGY 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6 (60min)
Men’s
[1] Rex Hedrick AUS defeated [3] Dimitri Steinmann SUI 11-4, 12-10, 11-5 (61 min)
Article by Squash & Racquetball Victoria