Unseeded American Lucie Stefanoni and Colombian No.6 seed Matias Knudsen have booked their spots in the PSA World Championships after winning the Pan American qualifying event at the Missouri Athletic Club.
The pair, who have never featured in a PSA World Championships in their careers to date, defeated No.2 seed Margot Prow and No.5 seed Alejandro Enriquez to put their names in the 64-player draws in Chicago next month.
20-year-old Stefanoni, a sophomore at Harvard, will join older sister Marina in the PSA World Championships draw after a superb week of squash, prevailing past Barbados’ Prow in a thrilling final.
After winning a five-game semi-final against top seed Lucia Bautista, Stefanoni replicated the feat in dramatic style, edging a fifth game tie-break to take the match by an 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 3-11, 12-10 scoreline.
Kundsen, meanwhile, got the better of Guatemala’s Enriquez by an 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 scoreline.
The World No.77 dropped just one game across his four wins in St. Louis, Missouri, defeating Matias Lacroix, top seed Cesar Salazar, No.4 seed Spencer Lovejoy and Enriquez in the final.
Stefanoni will now face Egypt’s Nada Abbas in round one of the PSA World Championships, while Knudsen will take on Scottish No.1 Greg Lobban.
Women’s Final: Lucie Stefanoni (USA) bt [2] Margot Prow (BAR) 3-2: 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 3-11, 12-10 (53m)
Men’s Final: [6] Matias Knudsen (COL) bt [5] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (43m)
Tickets are on sale now for the PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family.
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