Waters & El Welily Set Up Surprise ToC Final

Third seed Raneem El Welily and fifth seed Alison Waters stunned higher-seeded opponents in the semi-finals of the Women's J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions to set up a surprise final of the WSA International 100 squash event at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

Tenacity, composure and strategic play earned Waters her first trip to the climax of the prestigious championship played on an all-glass court in the iconic station's Vanderbilt Hall. The journey to the championship match had several ups and downs - and ended with a dramatic finish as the world No.5 from England had to save three match-balls before claiming victory over fourth-seeded Egyptian Nour El Sherbini.

"I thought we both played really good squash," said Londoner Waters after the match. "But at the end, on those match balls, I was actually relaxed while I think Nour may have got just a little bit tight."

The Egyptian teenager was anything but tight at the start of the match as she led the entire way in the first game to take it 11-8. Undeterred, Waters claimed the second in a tie break. Sherbini roared back in the third, 11-5.

Traditionally a power hitter who likes a fast-paced game, Waters demonstrated some new versatility, especially in the last two games, as she added more lift and lobs to her usual hard-hitting game. The 30-year-old also displayed a new attitude. "I have made some big improvements in my mental game," explained the four-time British national champion. "I am not allowing myself to get annoyed with the officials' decision and I have been working on not getting petulant with myself."

After going up 10-5 in the fourth, Waters let four points slip away before she closed the game out at 11-9 to draw level for the second time. Sherbini seized the momentum in the fifth, breaking out to an 8-4 lead, before Waters answered with her own four-point run to tie the match.

After saving two match balls at 8-10, then another at 10-11, Waters closed the lid on the match, 13-11. "It feels especially good to back up my win last night over Nicol David with the win today," said Waters, now in the 21st WSA World Tour final of her career.

El Welily eliminated Laura Massaro, the second seed from England, in four games. Massaro started strongly and was playing with authority and purpose during the first 12 points of the match as the players stayed neck and neck through to seven-all.

The Cairo-based Egyptian then took control and surged ahead to win the game 11-7. The second game was all El Welily. As the authority from Massaro's game faded away, the 25-year-old Egyptian conceded just two points to take a 2/0 lead in the match. It looked to be over in the third as El Welily had two match balls at 10-8 - but England's 2013 World Champion put together a string of three fantastic points to win the game 13-11 and keep her hopes alive.

In the fourth, 2014 runner-up Massaro - whose world No2 ranking El Welily took over earlier this month - rode the wave of momentum generated at the end of the previous game to take an early 3-0 lead. After El Welily tied the game at three-all, the lead exchanged hands through to 7-6, at which point El Welily once again took control to close out the match, winning the game 11-6.

"Each of us was playing well at different times," observed El Welily, now in the 22nd Tour final of her career.

Both finalists will be making their debuts in the climax of the 2015 Women's ToC - El Welily additionally also becoming the first Egyptian to make the women's final.