Lincou & Power To Contest Super Series Finals Final

France's Thierry Lincou and Canada's Jonathon Power will contest the final of the Brit Insurance Super Series Finals in London after both players won epic semi-final encounters on the all-glass court at the Broadgate Arena.

Power reached his second final here in three years after defeating Australia's No2 seed David Palmer in a thrilling semi-final battle lasting an incredible 100 minutes.

In front of a capacity crowd at Broadgate, the pair produced a match to rival their classic semi-final encounter at the event in 2001. This time, however, the result was reversed with Power edging out the Australian 6-11 11-10 11-6 8-11 11-10 to reach his 59th PSA Tour final.

In a bruising display, the players clashed throughout with Palmer hitting the deck on numerous occasions. "It's always a physical battle between us," said Power, the eighth seed. "There's not a lot of room out there. It's a very unforgiving court. If you play it at all loose you have to be right on top of the guy to try to get back or else you're finished, so there's a lot of physical play - but I kind of like that.

"I've got a sore ankle and a sore knee but I just have to keep going and forget about it. It's my last match of the year tomorrow so I'm sure I'll be able to push for one more."

The second semi-final between World Champion Thierry Lincou and England's Lee Beachill also produced a classic. The French No1 seed saved seven match balls in the fourth game to take the match into a fifth and deciding game, which he won to complete a remarkable 6-11 11-9 5-11 11-10 11-3 victory in 76 minutes.

"I was behind in the score but, like in Qatar at the World Championships, I saved a few match balls. I'm just happy to get through," said Lincou, now in his 26th PSA final. "He was playing superbly but I was playing the ball a little too soft so I tried to push myself and put some weight on the ball. I had nothing to lose so just played free and I think it worked out.

"I haven't had time to think about the final yet," added the world No1. "My legs are starting to get heavy now."

The final will mark Power and Lincou's fourth meeting this year - and their second in this event after facing each other in the opening qualifying match in the Fleet Group. The pair's previous meeting in a final was in Power's former hometown of Toronto in November, when the Frenchman wrested the Canadian Classic title from the local hero in a five-game thriller.

Semi-finals:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [3] Lee Beachill (ENG) 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-10 (6-4), 11-3 (76m)
[8] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [2] David Palmer (AUS) 6-11, 11-10 (5-3), 11-6, 8-11, 11-10 (3-1) (100m)