Gaultier Gets Nicol In Hungarian Open Upset
England's top seed Peter Nicol failed in his bid to reach his third major final since July when he was beaten in four games by Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in a major upset in the semi-finals of the Dunlop Hungarian Open Squash Championship in the Hungarian capital Budapest.
Gregory, the world No11 from Aix-en-Provence, was in blistering form as he despatched Nicol 11-2 11-5 4-11 11-5 in 55 minutes to register his career-first win over the former world number one.
The victory marks the 22-year-old Frenchman's second successive appearance in the Budapest final – after also reaching it last year as fifth seed! It is also Gaultier's 14th time in a PSA Tour final.
The other semi-final was a more gruelling affair, with England's third seed James Willstrop surviving a 6-4 tie-break in the opening game to take a one-love lead, only for second seed Amr Shabana to pile on the pressure to take the next three games, and the match 10-11 11-6 11-8 11-4 in 64 minutes.
The in-form left-hander Shabana, a former world champion, is making his third PSA Tour final appearance in three weeks, after winning the Heliopolis Open and St Louis Open titles last month.
RESULTS: Dunlop Hungarian Open Squash Championship, Budapest, Hungary
Semi-finals:
[5] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [1] Peter Nicol (ENG) 11-2, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5 (55m)
[2] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 10-11 (4-6), 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (64m)