Australia's last hope Donna Urquhart was bundled out of the Open in Thursday night's semi-final to Egyptian and number eight seed Mayar Hany. It followed an incredible exhibition match between Malaysian squash legend Nicol David and young Australian Rhys Dowling.
Thursday's semi-finals were preceded by a thrilling exhibition match featuring one of the greatest squash players of all time in Nicol David. David playing in the first of two exhibition matches for the week took the first two games over Rhys Dowling, showing the crowd some of the amazing skills that have served her throughout her illustrious career. Dowling was not to be outdone coming back to win the third game and was pushing hard in the fourth before he dove for a ball injuring his shoulder. Dowling's retirement was an unfortunate way to end what was an extremely entertaining showcase of squash.
Australia's number two seed Donna Urquhart was the big favourite going into the evening's semi-final against the Egyptian Hany. However Hany got off to a great start winning the first 11-4. Urquhart came back to win the next 11-5 before Hany closed out the match with two tiebreaker games to qualify for the final. Hany will now meet the top seed Dipika Pallikal Karthik of India after she took care of Egyptian Hana Ramadan in four games.
The men's final will see second seed Campbell Grayson of New Zealand take on Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi of Qatar after both had to come back from a game down in their semi-finals. Grayson fought hard against Englishmen Joe Lee winning a marathon four game match whilst Mohd was too strong for Welshman Joel Makin in a fiery contest that also lasted four games.
Friday sees Nicol David play her second exhibition match against Victorian Cameron White at 4pm AEST. This is immediately followed by the women's and men's final at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Australian Open - Day 4
Men's Semi-Finals Results
[2] Campbell Grayson (NZL) def [4] Joe Lee (ENG) 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8
[3] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) def [8] Joel Makin (WAL) 6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6
Women's Semi-Finals Results
[1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) def Hana Ramadan (EGY) 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4
[8] Mayar Hany (EGY) def [2] Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-4, 5-11, 13-11, 14-12
Men's Final
[2] Campbell Grayson (NZL) v [3] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
Women's Final
[1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) v [8] Mayar Hany (EGY)
11
Aug