Evans To Face Home Hero King in NZ Open Final

Welsh world No.14 Tesni Evans has reached her first PSA final in over three years after upsetting No.3 seed Nele Gilis at the Trustpower Baypark Arena in Tauranga to set up a mouth-watering climax with top seed Joelle King at the New Zealand Open.

Gilis, who is ranked a place above Evans in the PSA World Rankings, was in red-hot form in the opening game as she displayed a clinical edge to put Evans to the sword.

However, the remaining three games were a masterclass from Evans as the 30-year-old controlled the match and made very few errors en-route to an 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 victory in 52 minutes. Evans will now compete in her first final since the Manchester Open in May 2019 when she also played King in the final, losing in straight games. A win for Evans would see her lift her second PSA title and her first since 2015.

"I was thinking this morning when I was coming down to practice, the last time I was in a final was in Manchester, which is sort of home for me and how cool it would be to replicate that and play in her [Joelle's] home now," said Evans after reaching the eighth PSA final of her career.

"She absolutely thrashed me that day. I'm hoping for something a bit better tomorrow, but I know it'll be a great final and honestly it's an honour to share a final with her in New Zealand.

"I think it'll be pretty special."

Meanwhile, King will appear in the title decider in front of her home fans after she overcame Gilis's younger sister Tinne 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 in 36 minutes.

King will now feature in her 28th PSA final - her first on home soil in a decade - and the world No.5 will look to claim her 15th PSA title when she takes on Evans, an opponent she has beaten in four of the seven Tour matches the pair have played.

"Who knows how many more times I'll get to play at home?" said King.

"I just want to make the most of it and be here at the end of the week. This is where I grew up. Everyone loves a party here, they love and appreciate good sport, but they come to have a good time and that's always how I've kind of approached squash."

The men's final will see another Kiwi favourite - No.1 seed Paul Coll - lock horns with No.2 seed Mohamed ElShorbagy in a repeat of last week's Carrus Nations Cup final, which ElShorbagy won to bring home the title for England.

Greymouth-born Coll, the world No.2, overcame Qatar's No.7 seed Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi by an 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 scoreline. That win saw Coll avenge his shock defeat to the world No.28 in the second round of September's Qatar Classic and he will now appear in his 35th PSA final, and his first in New Zealand for six years.

"There are so many people [in the crowd] that have helped my career from a junior, when I was pretty average, until now.

"Coaches, friends, competitors, family, definitely everyone in the crowd [that's been involved] at a stage in my career this week, it is a bit of a celebration with them for me, we've achieved a lot in the last 12 months. To be home and to be able to celebrate with them, it's pretty special. I'm enjoying the week just for that reason."

World No.4 Mohamed ElShorbagy has reached his 75th PSA final after defeating Frenchman Victor Crouin 11-9, 11-8, 11-4. That means ElShorbagy will go joint-fifth with England's Nick Matthew on the list of all-time men's PSA final appearances.

ElShorbagy - who is aiming to capture his 47th PSA title - will be the youngest man to reach 500 wins on the PSA Tour if he gets the better of Coll in the final. It will be their 17th meeting on the PSA Tour, with ElShorbagy winning 11 of them so far, including their most recent match in the US Open quarter-finals last month.

"He [Coll] has done amazingly playing us in our home countries all these years," said ElShorbagy.

"Tomorrow, for me, it's just going to be another Silver final. He definitely has more than me to lose tomorrow, but I do think that we are the final that everyone wanted to see, and I hope that we give a good final for everyone tomorrow."