Shabana & Gaultier To Contest Saudi International Final In Al Khobar

In their fifth Tour meeting over the past three months, favourite Amr Shabana and seventh seed Gregory Gaultier will contest the final of the Saudi International after demanding semi-final clashes in the Super Series Platinum event which rounds off the PSA Tour year in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Both players, despite being four years apart in age, are celebrating their 20th appearances in PSA Tour finals - Frenchman Gaultier his third in a row in the past five weeks and Shabana, the world number one from Egypt, his sixth this year.

Shabana recovered from a game down to beat England's fourth seed James Willstrop 7-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9 in 49 minutes.

"It's always a mind game between James and I, and I think it's good for the squash when we play together," the 27-year-old from Cairo told the official website www.atcosquash.com afterwards. "It's squash at its highest quality."

In the other match, Gaultier gained revenge for the five match-balls he failed to convert against David Palmer in the World Open final in September, beating the Australian 11-8, 11-2, 11-9 in 43 minutes.

"I've tried to give my 100% on every ball, on every rally, and not to give anything away," said the 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence after his impressive upset.

Palmer, the world champion ranked two in the world, was not too unhappy with his performance: "I really struggled to move tonight, the body was not responding. After the first game, Greg's confidence just grew and grew, and the way he plays at the moment, he just believes in his game."

Despite never having been ahead of Shabana in the world rankings, Gaultier boasts a 5-2 head-to-head record over the top-ranked Egyptian - including a 3/1 victory in the US Open final in November.

Semi-finals:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG) 7-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9 (49m)
[7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [2] David Palmer (AUS) 11-8, 11-2, 11-9 (43m)