Matthew Marches On To Crucible Final

Local hero Nick Matthew pulled off his second upset in 24 hours when he beat Yorkshire and England team-mate James Willstrop in tonight's second semi-final in the Mamut English Open at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. His opponent in the all-England final on Sunday will be former world number one Peter Nicol.

There will also be Yorkshire interest in the Eventis Women's English Open final when Harrogate's top seed Jenny Duncalf takes on second seed Vicky Botwright, from Manchester.

Fifth seed Matthew, born and based in Sheffield, caused the biggest upset in the five-star PSA Tour event on Friday when he defeated defending champion Lee Beachill in five games, after saving four match balls against the top seed in the decider.

Despite taking 93 minutes to make it into the semis - more than twice as long as his opponent - world No9 Matthew was in fighting form as he raced to a two-game lead against Willstrop, the 22-year-old fourth seed from Pontefract who had reached this stage without dropping a game.

The third game went to a tie-break which Willstrop won 2-0, but again it was the Sheffield star who took control in the fourth game, before going on to celebrate his 11-8 11-9 10-11 11-4 triumph in 63 minutes.

Third seed Peter Nicol, who claimed his 50th major international title last month, fulfilled another squash ambition today when he finally broke into the final of an event that he organises!

After dismal progress for the past two years, England's most successful player of all-time this year left the administration of the Mamut English Open to his two partners in order to give himself the chance of success in the third year of the Crucible event.

His semi-final opponent John White, the 2003 champion, was clearly feeling the effects of a late-night quarter-final marathon against Finland's Olli Tuominen - but a rejuvenated Nicol, 32, from London, largely had the upper hand over the sixth-seeded Scot as he romped to an 11-5 11-8 11-8 victory in 44 minutes.

While Matthew is celebrating his 17th appearance in a PSA final - though his first this year - Sunday's match on the all-glass court at the Crucible will represent Nicol's 71st Tour climax!

There were two tough earlier battles to decide the line-up for the women's final: After overwhelming London-based 3/4 seed Alison Waters in the first two games, world No9 Jenny Duncalf lost concentration in the third as 21-year-old Waters bounced back. But Duncalf displayed her Yorkshire grit as she regained control in the fourth to win 9-1 9-4 4-9 9-1 in 55 minutes.

The other semi-final took two minutes longer to resolve, but only lasted three games as Vicky Botwright maintained the upper hand against Irish No1 Madeline Perry to win 9-7 9-5 10-8.

Men's semi-finals:
[5] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-8, 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4 (63m)
[3] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [6] John White (SCO) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (45m)

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [3/4] Alison Waters (ENG) 9-1, 9-4, 4-9, 9-1 (55m)
[2] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [3/4] Madeline Perry (IRL) 9-7, 9-5, 10-8 (57m)