Abdel Kawy Upset Heralds Hopes Of Egyptian Double In KL

Fourth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy pulled off a straight games upset over Jenny Duncalf, the No2 seed, in today's women's semi-finals of the CIMB KL Open to raise hopes of the first ever Egyptian double in the major men's and women's Tour event being staged on an all-glass court at Berjaya Times Square in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Abdel Kawy, the 24-year-old world No6 from Cairo, despatched Duncalf - ranked two in the world - 11-3, 11-8, 11-9 in 37 minutes in the semi-finals of the $53,500 WISPA World Tour Gold event to reach the 23rd Tour final of her career.

Much to the delight of the partisan KL crowd, Abdel Kawy's opponent will be Nicol David, the Malaysian star who is now celebrating her tenth appearance in the KL Open final since 1999 - when she was just 15!

The world number one from Penang delivered the 26th birthday present England's Alison Waters did not want - when she beat the third-seeded Londoner 11-3, 11-7, 11-5.

The win takes Nicol David to her 58th WISPA final - and her 12th Tour meeting with Omneya Abdel Kawy since their first, in KL, in April 2000!

Both semi-finals in the men's $50,000 5-star PSA Tour event featured Malaysians hoping to be lifted by the crowd against higher-ranked Egyptians.

But hopes of upsets by both Ong Beng Hee and Mohd Azlan Iskandar - leading to a repeat of the final between the pair in 2008 - were dashed when favourite Ramy Ashour beat eighth seed Ong Beng Hee 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 and second seed Karim Darwish overcame Iskandar 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.

The victories take world number one Ashour, aged just 22, to the 25th PSA Tour final of his career - and the fifth in a row - and Darwish to his 29th.