Shabana & Darwish To Fight For Heliopolis Crown

Top-seeded Egyptians Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish will meet in the eagerly-anticipated final of the Rotary Heliopolis Open at the Heliopolis Club in the pair's home town Cairo.

Shabana, the 26-year-old favourite and former world champion, defeated Finland's fourth seed Olli Tuominen 11-3 11-7 11-10 to reach his third PSA Tour final of the year - and the 11th of his career.

In the other semi-final, Dutch qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema kept up the giant-killing determination he showed in the earlier rounds by taking the opening game against second seed Darwish.

However, the 22-year-old from The Hague who defeated third-seeded Canadian Graham Ryding and sixth seed Mohammed Abbas, was unable to impose himself further on the match. Darwish, the world No12, took the upper hand to win 8-11 11-5 11-4 11-5 to claim his 16th appearance in a PSA final.

The Heliopolis clash will be the Egyptian stars' fourth meeting in a PSA Tour final since January 2001 - with Shabana currently ahead 2/1.

Semi-finals:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-3, 11-7, 11-10 (4-2)
[2] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5