Lincou Defeats Darwish To Reach Liverpool 08 Final

Third seed Thierry Lincou resisted a spirited fight back by Egypt's Karim Darwish in today's first semi-final of the Liverpool 08 Open, beating the eighth seed in four games to reach his 30th major international final.

The former world No1 from Marseille took early control of the match at the spectacular St George's Hall in the heart of Merseyside to open up a 1/0 lead after 15 minutes. But Darwish romped away with the second game and quickly established a 9-3 lead in the third.

The 24-year-old underdog from Cairo, who has lost all of the previous five PSA Tour encounters with Lincou, soon reached game ball at 10-6 - one point away from a two-games-to-one lead.

But in a classic do-or-die effort from the Frenchman, Lincou kept up the pressure, saving three game balls before converting his own in the tie-break. Lincou led throughout the fourth before clinching his 11-8, 5-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-6 victory in 60 minutes.

"He's improved a lot over the past six months - with some good scalps and a good run of results," said Lincou of the world number ten. "He's certainly capable of beating anyone - and even though our previous record was in his favour, I knew it wasn't going to be an easy match.

"I feel I played the right shots at the right time, particularly from the third game onwards, but I got tired and had to slow the pace down.

"I had to keep the play on his back hand as he's got such a strong forehand," added Lincou, the world No3.

A despondent Darwish felt he didn't deserve to win: "I was controlling the game at one point, but then he began to play so well, getting everything back. I was just in too much of a hurry.

"After that my brain went," added the Egyptian.