RESULTS: Kuwait Open Squash Championship, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Semi-finals:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-10 (3-1), 4-11, 3-11, 11-8, 8-2 ret. (60m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5 (45m)
Mighty Egyptians Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour will contest the final of the Kuwait Open - their fifth successive meeting in a Tour final - after overcoming French opposition in the semi-finals of the $200,000 PSA Super Series Platinum squash championship at the KSF Squash Complex in Kuwait City.
In the first semi-final against third seed Gregory Gaultier, Shabana took the opening lead after a surviving a tie-break game - like all the games in his straight games quarter-final win 24 hours earlier. But the 25-year-old Frenchman burst back to take the next two games to establish the lead.
After winning the fourth to draw level, the Egyptian continued in the ascendancy in the fifth, leading 6-2 when an accidental collision led to Gaultier injuring his ankle in a fall. The Frenchman took a few minutes to recover, but on the resumption it was clear he was unable to compete, and after two points opened the court door and offered his hand to his opponent!
"I feel terrible," said Shabana after his 11-10 (3-1), 4-11, 3-11, 11-8, 8-2 (ret.) win in exactly one hour. "Greg is one of my best mates of the tour, we are always together. I know it could have been the other way around, and I feel really bad. But it's not just for this tournament, it's our livelihood - I just hope that he'll be OK."
The victory takes left-hander Shabana, the world number one and three times world champion from Giza, into his 30th PSA Tour final.
The second semi-final produced the final the crowd wanted as Ramy Ashour blitzed the first two games against Thierry Lincou, the sixth seed from France who made the last four after fighting back from two games down to upset fourth-seeded Englishman James Willstrop.
The Frenchman threatened to repeat his comeback in the quarter-finals as he pulled a game back and took a 5-3 lead in the fourth.
Ramy was having none of it, however, as he reeled off the next eight points to win 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5 in 45 minutes and book himself a rematch of last week's Hurghada International final.
"I've watched Thierry play for a long time now, he is such a great ambassador for the game," said 20-year-old Ashour after reaching his 15th Tour final - and fourth this year. "Yesterday, when I was 2/1 down, Thierry was my inspiration, when he came back from 2/0 against James. But tonight, I was worried he was going to do that to me, and he kept me on my toes the whole of the third game.
"But then, I just was able to keep him in the corners, and play the right shot at the right time.
"I'm enjoying the fact that Shabana is world number one," added the Cairo-based Egyptian, who jumped to two in the world after beating his compatriot for the first time in last year's Kuwait final. "Of course I want to beat him, but he is from my country, and he is like a big brother to me.
"And every time we play together, we are having huge matches. It should be a great show tomorrow."
Official website: www.sheikhasquash.com