Nicol & Shabana In Dayton Final

England's Peter Nicol will face Egypt's Amr Shabana in the men's final of the EBS Asset Management Dayton Open in Ohio, USA, after the event's top two seeds, both left-handers, eliminated their semi-final opposition in straightforward fashion.

Top seed Nicol was in fine form in the first semi-final against fourth seed Karim Darwish, the former world junior champion from Cairo. The world No3 was on the ball quickly throughout the entire match, creating numerous errors from the Egyptian. After 46 minutes, Nicol secured his 11-7 11-6 11-4 victory and a place in his 68th PSA Tour final.

"It was like seeing the Peter Nicol who dominated the tour at No1 for so long," noted match referee Julian Wellings.

"Maybe losing in the first round in Chicago made him eager to show he still has the talent to be at the top of the world rankings," observed tournament organiser Charlie Johnson.

By contrast, the other semi was a bit anti-climatic as fifth seed Jonathon Power started having back spasms early in the first game. The first game was close, but second seed Shabana poured on the pressure in the second and didn't let up, even though he knew Power was less than 100%.

The artful Egyptian kept his focus on the task at hand - and, after a couple of points in the third game, Power was forced to retire - giving Shabana an 11-8 11-6 2-0 (ret.) victory and his second appearance in as PSA Tour final in a week.

In the final of the women's event, also an Anglo-Egyptian affair, English favourite Linda Elriani defeated second seed Omneya Abdel Kawy 9-7 9-5 9-0 to claim her second successive win over the Egyptian in a WISPA Wold Tour final in the US this month.

Men's semi-finals:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [4] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4
[2] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [5] Jonathon Power (CAN) 11-8, 11-6, 2-0 ret

Women's final:
[1] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [2] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-7, 9-5, 9-0