Champions On Course For Fourth Hong Kong Titles

Stunning straight games wins in today's semi-finals of the Cathay Pacific Gale Well Hong Kong Open have put Amr Shabana and Nicol David on course to win their fourth successive titles in the established international squash event which was first staged in 1985.

Egypt's third seed Amr Shabana will face Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in the final of the men's $145,000 PSA Tour Super Series Platinum event for the third year in a row.

It was on all-glass court set in Hollywood Plaza, one of Hong Kong's busiest shopping malls, that Shabana beat fellow countryman Karim Darwish, the top seed who succeeded him as world number one at the beginning of the year, 12-10, 11-8, 11-4 in 35 minutes.

"I'm happy to be in the final of Hong Kong again," the 30-year-old from Giza told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "Beating Karim today, the world number one, is a great moment for me.

"Physically was not the hardest aspect of the match, it was more from a mental side it was the hardest. You've got to be extremely strong.

"People don't realise what one of Karim's greatest talent is - he reads the game better than anybody else. So you've got to keep mixing up your shots constantly, because if you keep on doing the same thing again and again, he'll get used to it. So you've got to keep changing and changing all the time."

Like Shabana, Gaultier is also celebrating his 36th appearance in a PSA Tour final. The world number two from Aix-en-Provence ended James Willstrop's run, beating the eighth-seeded Englishman 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 in a repeat of his victory over his European rival at the same stage of the competition twelve months ago.

Nicol David arrived in Hong Kong fresh from winning her fourth World Open title in Amsterdam. And the world number one from Malaysia maintained the same level of concentration in the semi-finals of the women's $74,000 women's WISPA Gold event to beat England's Laura Massaro - the eighth seed who upset fourth-seeded compatriot Alison Waters in the previous round.

"It's great to be in Hong Kong, there's a very Asian feel to it which makes me feel at home, and all the spectators watching here in the Plaza make for a great atmosphere," said David after the 11-6, 11-5, 12-10 victory which takes the 26-year-old into the 56th Tour final of her career.

David meets former junior rival Omneya Abdel Kawy in the unexpected climax of the women's championship. The sixth-seeded Egyptian avenged her loss to Rachael Grinham in the World Open semi-finals by beating the Australian third seed 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 in just 27 minutes.

"I was really focused, it was my second major semi-final and I really wanted to make a final, and I lost from 2-0 against Rachael in the worlds which was so frustrating so I really wanted to win for that reason too," explained the beaming 24-year-old from Cairo later.

"Last time I was thinking too much about what was happening, about the next round, so this time I made sure I was just taking it point by point in the third, I think I kept my focus well.

"I'm so pleased to reach my first major final, I've done well in a few silver events, but this will be good for my ranking and my confidence."

Men's semi-finals:
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [1] Karim Darwish (EGY) 12-10, 11-8, 11-4 (35m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [8] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (47m)

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [8] Laura Massaro (ENG) 11-6, 11-5, 12-10 (41m)
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (27m)