Borja Battles To Beat Bianchetti In Dublin

It will surely be a tired top seed Borja Golan who faces second-seeded Welshman Alex Gough in the men's final of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open after surviving a 113-minute marathon semi-final against Italy's No3 seed Davide Bianchetti in the 2-star PSA Tour event at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.

But local interest will be focussed on the women's final where Banbridge-born Madeline Perry, the favourite, will be going for a successive hat-trick of titles in the WISPA World Tour event when she faces fifth-seeded New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes.

Meeting for the first time since contesting the 2006 Irish Open final, Davide Bianchetti was clearly after revenge over Golan in a gruelling match which was a real battle in all senses - with countless collisions and stoppages to argue with the match referee. The quality of squash matched the drama of the match with both players making few errors in rallies that regularly lasted over 50 shots.

After sharing the first two games, the drama unfolded in the third which lasted a staggering 61 minutes, including a five-minute blood injury and numerous collisions and arguments. The crucial game was eventually won by Golan 16/14. After taking a lead in the fourth, the hot-blooded Italian took exception to a decision which led to a conduct point being awarded against him.

This seemed to give his Spanish opponent a lift as he squeezed through another tie-break to win through to the final 11-2, 7-11, 11-10 (6-4), 11-10 (3-1) in 113 minutes.

While Golan will be contesting his 17th career PSA Tour final, it will be Gough's 16th - though the veteran Welshman made his first in Canada in 1993, when his Fitzwilliam club opponent was barely ten years old!

The 36-year-old second seed eased into the final after beating England's No4 seed Jonathan Kemp 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 in 41 minutes with a textbook display of squash.

In the women's event, world No10 Madeline Perry enjoyed a comprehensive semi-final win over third seed Annelize Naude of the Netherlands. The pair have met several times in the Irish Open over the past few years and the clash was eagerly anticipated by the crowd at Fitzwilliam.

The first game proved to be a long and tense encounter with neither player managing to gain the initiative. After taking the first game, Perry moved up a gear and showed signs of the form that took her as high as world number six last year. The eight-times Irish national champion produced an array of shots and pace that Naude couldn't live with and won through 9-6, 9-3, 9-3 in 40 minutes.

Perry is celebrating her tenth WISPA Tour final - though the first since reaching the Fitzwilliam climax last year - while Hawkes is marking the sixth, and biggest, final of her short career since becoming a WISPA member four years ago.

The 24-year-old from Auckland continued her excellent form in the other semi-final where she beat England's fourth seed Dominique Lloyd-Walter 9-5, 5-9, 9-1, 9-1 in 57 minutes.

Men's semi-finals:
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [3] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-2, 7-11, 11-10 (6-4), 11-10 (3-1) (113m)
[2] Alex Gough (WAL) bt [4] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (41m)

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [3] Annelize Naude (NED) 9-6, 9-3, 9-3 (40m)
[5] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt [4] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 9-5, 5-9, 9-1, 9-1 (57m)