Ricketts & Elriani Gatecrash New York Finals

Australia's Anthony Ricketts, the tenth seed, and England's Linda Elriani, the No5 seed, claimed unexpected places in the finals of the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions in New York after impressive semi-final upsets in the international squash circuit's first major combined men's and women's event of the year at Grand Central Terminal in New York, USA.

Ricketts, the world No11 from Sydney, beat Egypt's former world champion Amr Shabana, the No9 seed, 11-4 2-11 11-9 11-6 in 45 minutes - and will meet French favourite Thierry Lincou, the world No1 from Marseille, who despatched another ex-world champion David Palmer, the fourth seed from Australia, 9-11 11-3 11-9 11-9 in 65 minutes to reach his third ToC final in two years.

The women's final was expected to feature one of Australia's Grinham sisters, but after the rejuvenated Linda Elriani dismissed third seed Natalie Grinham in the quarter-finals, the 33-year-old from Eastbourne went on to overcome top seed Rachael Grinham, the world No1, 9-1 9-6 1-9 9-3 to reach her third WISPA World Tour final this year. Unbeaten so far in 11 Tour matches in 2005, Elriani now faces second seed Vanessa Atkinson, the world champion from the Netherlands who put paid to an all-English final by beating Vicky Botwright, the eighth seed, 9-6 9-1 9-6 in 39 minutes.

Lincou began slowly in his semi against David Palmer, losing the first five points of the match and the first game. "Even though I got off to a slow start, I was positive," he said. "I was willing to do what I needed to in order to win the match."

In the second game, the Frenchman jumped to an 8-3 lead, having found a self-described balance between "patience and attacking." Palmer, on the other hand, was not imposing himself in this match the way he had en-route to the last four. Perhaps the most telling point of the match was at 8-3 in the second game when Lincou attacked a short ball off a weak boast from Palmer. The Frenchman turned around in surprise after realizing that Palmer was still in the back of the court having made no effort to cover Lincou's shot.

Even though he wasn't on form, the Australian had his chances in the third and fourth games, taking a mid-game lead in both. But Palmer could not sustain the lead against the reigning world champion. "Maybe I am more confident in myself after winning the world championship," said Lincou. "Even when I am down, I feel that I can put it together."

In the fourth, Palmer was ahead 9-5; Lincou hit a perfect slow boast that dropped just out of Palmer's reach and then scraped a pickup off a hard hit low reverse. Three consecutive tins by Palmer gave Lincou the match victory and a berth in his 25th PSA Tour final.

The crowd was thrilled in the first game of the other men's semi-final when Amr Shabana displayed the shot-making that, when he is on, is the best in the game. The Egyptian came out blazing and won the game in short order, 11-4. But Ricketts turned right around and won the second 11-2.

Shabana jumped to an early lead in the third, but couldn't sustain it. Down 9-10, Shabana appeared to hit a perfect drop to tie the game and send it into overtime. Ricketts protested that the ball was down, but the referee called the ball good. Ricketts kicked the ball to the front of the court away from Shabana and the crowd booed its disapproval. Shabana, thinking that the disapproval was directed at him, conceded the point, giving Ricketts the game. Too many tins in the fourth from Shabana was all Ricketts needed to lock up his first Tournament of Champions final appearance.

"I was lucky today that Shabana's shots were finding the bottom side of the tin, rather than above it," said Ricketts after the match.

The most impressive match of the evening belonged to tour veteran Linda Elriani, who played near perfect squash in defeating world No1 Rachael Grinham. The Englishwoman repeated the tactics she used against Grinham's sister Natalie in the previous round - lob deep and attack short. "I got a bit of confidence with my win in the quarterfinals," said Elriani.

The strategy also worked in the semi-finals. Top seed Rachael, one of the fastest players on the women's tour, just could not cover the court quickly enough in the face of Elriani's high lobs, followed by attacking drop shots. "At first, I thought, she can't possibly play that well two days in a row," said the favourite. "But she did - everything she hit was perfect."

After winning the first two games, Elriani abandoned the lob and lost the game. "After the third, I thought, just get back to your game plan," said the Englishwoman. Get back to her game she did, and with a 9-3 fourth game win, earned a place in her first Tournament of Champions final - and the 28th WISPA final of her career.

Elriani will face second seed Vanessa Atkinson of The Netherlands who eliminated England's Vicky Botwright in three games. Like Lincou, Atkinson has a newfound confidence after winning her first world title at year-end. "The big difference for me is that I stay calm and don't get annoyed when things aren't going on well on court."

The new attitude stood Atkinson in good stead when she faltered slightly in the third game, falling behind 0-6. Atkinson stayed focused and played her way back to win the game and secure the victory. Asked to look ahead to the finals, the Dutchwoman said: "I am not flying off until Saturday night so hopefully I'll have something to celebrate before I leave."

Men's semi-finals:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [4] David Palmer (AUS) 9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-9 (65m)
[10] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [9] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-4, 2-11, 11-9, 11-6 (45m)

Women's semi-finals:
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 9-1, 9-6, 1-9, 9-3 (50m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [8] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-6, 9-1, 9-6 (39m)