Hinds & Ali Fathi Make Madison Final

Egypt's Karim Ali Fathi and Englishman Joel Hinds will meet in a surprise Madison Open final after both produced straight games' upsets over higher-ranked opponents in the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event in its fourth year at Madison Squash Workshop in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Third seed Ali Fathi, a 20-year-old from Cairo playing only his second Tour event in the USA, faced experienced New Zealander Martin Knight, the 29-year-old No2 seed who was bidding to reach his fourth Tour final this month - and who arrived in Wisconsin fresh from winning the Charlottesville Challenger in Virginia.

In a match described by Egyptian club member Ahmed Afifi as "Pure Squash; Pure entertainment" - and one in which there was "not a single decision by the ref the entire match" - Ali Fathi brushed aside world No53 Knight 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 in 51 minutes.

"Quite happy to be through in three games," said Ali Fathi after reaching his first Tour final of the year, but the eighth of his career. "I knew that if I just played steady, I would lose.

"I had to be aggressive and force the issue if I wanted to win," explained the world No56. "Looking forward to the final tomorrow. It will be tough! Joel is very good."

Hinds, a 26-year-old from Birmingham, played fellow 26-year-old and fellow non-seed Peter Creed, the Welshman who ousted fourth seed Charles Sharpes in the previous round.

"That was hard work," said world No87 Hinds after the 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 victory in 65 minutes which takes him into his tenth career Tour final.

"Peter seemed to play the beginning of each better, but I think I played the ends better!

"Looking forward to tomorrow. I'm sure it will be hard. Karim's a good player."

Image courtesy of Dan Masliah