Peter Nicol Has Half Century In Sight

Peter Nicol is one match away from recording his 50th major international squash title after beating British team-mate James Willstrop in straight games in today's semi-finals at the World Games in Mülheim an der Ruhr in Germany.

Nicol, the No2 seed, will face favourite Thierry Lincou in Tuesday's final - but the world number one-ranked Frenchman had to stage a remarkable comeback to beat Britain's fourth seed Nick Matthew in the other men's semi-final at the end of the day, fighting back from one game and 0-8 behind to triumph in a 73-minute four-game marathon.

The women's final will also feature the top two seeds when Australian favourite Rachael Grinham takes on Malaysia's No2 seed Nicol David.

Competing in this IOC-backed multi-sport event for the first time, Peter Nicol defeated Willstrop, the third seed, 9-2 9-4 10-8 in one minute short of an hour to put himself in line for Britain's first ever squash gold medal at the Games.

"I played really well, my length was superb," admitted the usually modest Londoner. "I came here really relaxed - it's all going much better than I could have hoped.

"In the first two games I really controlled him, though his length got better in the third and I had to work harder.

"Yesterday's match (against Egypt's Karim Darwish) was the hardest I've had for a long time, and I woke up this morning feeling really tired. After a pretty poor practice session, I went back to bed for an hour - then got up feeling great," explained the left-hander.

When asked whether playing a fellow countryman for a place in the final posed any difficulties, the former world number one was quick to reply: "Not in the slightest. He desperately wanted to win, of course - but then so did I!"

Willstrop felt that the match had had been the most competitive the pair had ever played: "I knew I could give it everything, but he's just too good. He rarely hit a loose ball and got everything into the corners," said the 21-year-old from Pontefract.

Willstrop led 5-1 in the third game and had a match-ball at 8-7: "I pushed him all the way in the third - but it's been a great tournament and good preparation for next week's Pakistan Open where I am the defending champion.

"I'm very glad I came," added the Yorkshireman.

After only two changes of serve in the second game in the other semi-final, Nick Matthew was poised to go two games up against the world champion. But Lincou is not a man to give up easily - and the Frenchman battled courageously to foil two further game-balls against him before securing his own game-ball at 9-8.

But the 24-year-old Englishman from Sheffield struck back - and reached his fourth game-ball at 9-9. Again Lincou retaliated and soon he had levelled the match. A dispirited Matthew was unable to regain the initiative again as Lincou went on to win 3-9 10-9 9-3 9-2.

The 29-year-old from Marseille conceded that he would have been unlikely to have made up the second game deficit had the scoring been 'point-a-rally', instead of the traditional 'hand-in-hand-out' style being used in this World Squash Federation-backed event.

"I was just thinking about winning," was Lincou's reply when asked what was going through his mind at 8-0 down in the second. "I thought to myself 'I'm not really tired, I must keep in here' - I didn't want to just throw it, but treat it as a match I could use as an experience for later," explained the world's top player.

"I had great support, for the first time, from the bosses from the French national delegation here - and that was great. They really enjoyed it.

"I'm very happy to be in the final - but the conditions here are really tough," added Lincou.

Matthew was understandably disappointed - but full of admiration for the Frenchman's performance: "I was outplaying him for two games - but he came back. I guess that shows why he's world number one.

"I was playing so well, but when he fought back I just didn't have another level to go to. I probably thought I had the game won before I did," the Yorkshireman conceded.

Malaysia's Nicol David claimed the first place in a final after posting a punishing straight games victory over Britain's Linda Elriani in the opening women's semi-final. Both players have achieved world number three rankings, but whereas 21-year-old David boasts this position today, the 33-year-old Englishwoman - the oldest player in the world's top ten - achieved her top three status more than four years ago.

Mindful of letting Elriani gain a two-game advantage in their meeting in last month's Dutch Open, Nicol David was determined to prevent such a gain by her opponent this time. But third seed Elriani led in each of the games before the pint-sized Malaysian fought back to recover the deficit and, after 49 minutes, record her 9-6 10-8 9-6 victory.

"I was really determined not to let her get into her game," said the record twice former world junior champion from Penang. "I had to put her under pressure and keep the rallies going as I knew she'd want to finish it off quickly - which meant that she made errors.

"I just hope I continue to play as well as this in the final," added David, who earlier in the day found time to support Malaysia's ten-pin bowling team, who are now in the semi-finals of the mixed event. "Being with them helped to inspire me for my match."

Elriani, the reigning British champion who had seven game-balls in the second game, was disappointed with her display: "I'm really annoyed that I didn't convert any of the leads I had - I knew just what to do, but didn't do it.

"These sweltering conditions don't suit me, but Nicol is used to them. Her greatest asset is her speed - she keeps going and going. She's playing very well, but I still think it was a pretty tight match overall," explained the British number one.

Nicol David will face Australia's world No1 Rachael Grinham in the final on the all-glass court at the Sport-Treff-Punkt centre. Grinham, the top seed who is aiming to retain the title won by fellow Australian Sarah Fitz-Gerald in the sport's previous World Games appearance in Finland, admitted that her game against Egypt's fourth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy "wasn't a very good match for either of us".

Grinham, who won 9-4 9-5 3-9 9-6 in 56 minutes, almost lost to the Egyptian star in their recent meeting in Hurghada. "She played out of her skull there, as she usually does in Egypt, but it was quite different here."

The Queenslander fought back from 3-6 down in the final game to claim her place in the final. "I'm not looking forward to playing Nicol in tomorrow's final in these conditions - she seems to get fresher as the match goes on!"

Men's semi-finals:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [4] Nick Matthew (GBR) 3-9, 10-9, 9-3, 9-2 (73m)
[2] Peter Nicol (GBR) bt [3] James Willstrop (GBR) 9-2, 9-4, 10-8 (59m)

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [4] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-4, 9-5, 3-9, 9-6 (56m)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt [3] Linda Elriani (GBR) 9-6, 10-8, 9-6 (49m)