Ricketts & Beachill In Virginia Pro Final
Semi-finals:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (40m)
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [7] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (47m)
Top seeds Anthony Ricketts and Lee Beachill will meet in the final of the Virginia Pro Squash Championship - both players reaching the climax of the 5-star PSA Tour event in Virginia, USA, without conceding any games throughout the tournament.
Ricketts, the event favourite from Australia, ended the giant-killing run of Egyptian qualifier Hisham Mohd Ashour. Clearly feeling the effects of his five-game dismissal of third seed John White 24 hours earlier, the 24-year-old from Cairo was unable to match the pace of the Australian who was runner-up in last month's Windy City Open in Chicago.
A few late surges were quickly quashed by the gutsy 27-year-old from Sydney and Ricketts ultimately booked himself a place in the final with an 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 scoreline after 40 minutes.
It took Englishman Beachill seven minutes longer to achieve his straight games win over another Egyptian, seventh seed Mohammed Abbas. The 29-year-old second seed from Pontefract in Yorkshire extended his unbeaten PSA Tour record over the 26-year-old from Cairo with an 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 victory.
Ricketts is celebrating his 16th appearance in a PSA Tour final, while Beachill is marking his 17th. While the Australian claimed the Super Series Finals crown last year, Beachill is looking for his first Tour win since becoming the US Open champion in November 2005.