David & El Welily To Meet In Macau Final

Malaysia's Nicol David and Egyptian Raneem El Welily, the No1 and No3 players in the world, respectively, will meet in Sunday's final of the Women's Macau Open after coming through today's semi-finals of the WSA Gold 50 squash event at Complex Desportivo International do Cotai in Taipa, Macau, in straight games.

David increased her number of WSA World Tour final appearances to 96 - it will be her sixth this year - after despatching career-long rival Jenny Duncalf, the former world No2 from England, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6.

The 31-year-old from Penang, who arrived in Taipa direct from Philadelphia where she won an historic third successive US Open title, is appearing in the Macau Open for the first time since November 2001 when she reached the semi-finals as an 18-year-old having just broken into the world top 20.

"I'm very happy to win in three games," said the top seed after her Duncalf victory. "It's nice to be back in Macau after 12 years to see how much it has changed."

Second seed El Welily, who hails from Alexandria, denied Rachael Grinham a second successive appearance in the final when she beat the 37-year-old sixth seed from Australia 11-3, 11-4, 11-3.

"I'm happy to make the final and be here in Macau," said the Cairo-based 25-year-old. "I'm loving the venue as well as the glass court."

It will be the finalists' third Tour meeting this year - with the 2014 honours so far shared one-all.