Lincou & Gaultier To Meet In All-French Pakistan Open Final

Thierry Lincou and Gregory Gaultier will meet in the first all-French final of the Warid Pakistan Open after victories over Egyptians in today's semi-finals of the PSA Super Series event in Islamabad.

It will be the second time in three months that the pair have faced off in a PSA Tour event final - after contesting the Mamut English Open climax in Sheffield in August.

Gaultier, the in-form 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence who clinched the US Open title earlier in the month as the sixth seed, was taken the full distance by rising star Ramy Ashour, the record two-times world junior champion who has catapulted into the world top ten this month.

The teenager stormed into the semi-finals after upsetting third seed Anthony Ricketts - his second defeat of the Australian in ten days - in the quarter-finals.

After Gaultier took the opening two games in the semi-final, 19-year-old Ashour, the No8 seed, struck to draw level. But the fifth-seeded Frenchman regained the upper hand to win 11-9, 11-3, 5-11, 5-11, 11-8 in 62 minutes to reach his fifth final since August.

Lincou made the semis after a 58-minute victory over Australia's No7 seed Stewart Boswell. His opponent Karim Darwish, the sixth seed from Cairo, survived a nail-biting quarter-final against England's fourth seed James Willstrop, beating his fellow former world junior champion in a remarkable 73-minute match which boasted a 10-11 (0-2), 11-10 (2-0), 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) scoreline.

In the semi-final, the second-seeded Frenchman from Marseille fought back from a game down to defeat Darwish in 36 minutes - the Egyptian conceding the match with the score standing at 4-11, 11-6, 11-7, 4-1.

Lincou is celebrating his 32nd career final.

Semi-finals:
[5] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [8] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 11-3, 5-11, 5-11, 11-8 (62m)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [6] Karim Darwish (EGY) 4-11, 11-6, 11-7, 4-1 ret. (36m)