Sixteen-year-old Marina Stefanoni earned one of the final qualifying positions in the 2019 PSA Women’s World Championship with her fourth PSA title of 2019, and U.S. veteran Chris Gordon collected his sixth career PSA title in Virginia this weekend, September 26-29.
Stefanoni, a three-time U.S. junior champion and currently ranked world No. 69 professionally, continued her successful calendar year that included the British Junior Open U17 title and three PSA titles this spring.
The Darien, Connecticut-native entered the $6,000 Aspin Cup draw as the four seed at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Canada. Stefanoni rached the final via four-game quarterfinal and semifinal victories against the seven seed Marie Stephan and six seed Alison Thomson, respectively. Stefanoni prevailed in a close final against nineteen-year-old Egyptian Hana Moataz, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 15-17, 11-9.
Stefanoni will make her debut at the CIB PSA Women’s World Championship draw with a first-round match against England’s eleven seed Alison Waters on Thursday, October 24.
Elsewhere on the PSA Challenger tour, Gordon racked up his sixth career PSA title at the second $6,000 Wakefield Open at the Wakefield School in the Plains, Virginia.
The thirty-three-year-old entered the draw as the tournament’s two seed and progressed to the final without dropping a game, including a quarterfinal win over fellow American Spencer Lovejoy. The New York City-native then defeated Canadian top seed Mike McCue in the final 11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9.
