Abdel Kawy & Waters Set Up Surprise Carol Weymuller Climax

The semi-final exit of the event's top two seeds has led to a surprise Anglo/Egyptian Carol Weymuller Open final between third seed Alison Waters and No5 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy - with both players celebrating notable WSA World Tour milestones in the climax of the long-established WSA Gold 50 squash event at Heights Casino in New York.

Londoner Waters recovered from two games down to beat second-seeded Egyptian Raneem El Welily 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 to reach the 20th Tour final of her career, whilst Cairo-based Abdel Kawy will celebrate her 30th Tour final after seeing off top seed Laura Massaro, the reigning world champion from England, 11-2, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5.

World No7 Waters led El Welily 7-2 in their Tour head-to-head record going into the first semi - but the world No3 from Cairo won 3/0 the previous time they played back in February 2013.

"The match started very well for Raneem with great control, wonderful flowing movement and a series of amazing winners all over the court taking her to 10-4 game ball quite quickly," reported tournament organiser Linda Elriani. "Alison did her best to stick in there, weather the storm and pin Raneem in the back. Ali managed to climb back from 4 to 7 but she couldn't stop Raneem from taking the first game 11-7."

El Welily continued to dominate in the second to move 2/0 ahead - and led 3-0 in the third.

"Ali climbed back from 0 to 7 in one hand with a combination of her own great play and also errors from Raneem," Elriani continued.

Waters duly took the third, then the fourth to draw level.

"Ali's momentum and confidence seemed to be growing and she started off the fifth game exactly the way you always hope you can by taking a 3-0 lead," said Elriani. "With a couple of great dying lengths and precise drop shots from Ali and many errors from Raneem, Ali went through from 4 to 11 in one hand to take the match and win herself a much deserved place in the 2014 Carol Weymuller final!"

A delighted Waters, now in her first Tour final for more than a year and a half, said later: "Being 2/0 down I still felt confident because I had played well in the first two. I knew that if I kept persevering I could get the errors from her, especially as I knew she'd had a tough match last night - I told myself to keeping pushing away!

"It's nice to be in the final. It's been a while so I'm really excited and looking forward to it!"

Favourite Massaro came into the second semi after being taken the full distance in the previous round by rising Egyptian star Salma Hany Ibrahim, an 18-year-od qualifier.

"Laura looked a little flat and was not getting onto the short shots the way she had been last night and was hitting her shots very one paced, where usually Laura has the ability to vary the pace and control the game so well," commented Elriani. "With a series of wonderful winners Omneya flew away with the first game 11-2."

World No2 Massaro struck back in the second to draw level - but from six-all in the third it was underdog Abdel Kawy, ranked 12 places lower, who prevailed to regain the lead.

"In the fourth, Omneya's confidence was at its highest and she hit so many great winners from spectacular holds, forcing Laura out of position," Elriani continued. "Laura as always kept fighting to regain her control but today it was Omneya's day for sure and she went through in style to win the fourth and final game 11-5."

Abdel Kawy, now in her second WSA final of the year, but looking for her first title for four years, was delighted: "I really was enjoying it! When I won the first I wasn't thinking about winning or losing. Then in the second I started to think about this, so it messed up my game and she played really well in the second too.

"But I tried to get back in the second game at 7-0 down so that even if I lost the game, she knew I was still in the match.

"I'm happy to win this one," added the 29-year-old. "It's my first gold final in a long time, maybe since 2010. So tomorrow, no pressure, just relax and enjoy it!"

Waters and Abdel Kawy have been battling on the WSA World Tour for almost 11 years, with the Londoner currently boasting a 10-5 head to lead.

But their rivalry goes back to January 1998 when the pair met in the British Junior U14 Open final - with the Egyptian recording a 6-9, 9-1, 9-4, 9-6 victory!

Carol Weymuller Open image courtesy of Jean Ervasti