Laura and Nicol set up repeat of last year’s final shoot-out
By SCARLETT SMITH – Squash Mad Chief Reporter
Laura Massaro and Nicol David will face off in the Allam British Open final in a repeat of last year’s showdown.
England’s Massaro, the current World Champion and defending British Open Champion, beat Egyptian Raneem El Weleily 3-1 in front of a patriotic home crowd at Hull’s Sports Arena. And four-time British Open Champion David overcame a determined Alison Waters by the same score line.
Massaro will be hoping for a repeat of last year’s final where she became the first English woman in 22 years to win the historic title.
Speaking after her match she admitted: “Defending the title means a huge amount. To win it once is a big honour but to do it two years in a row would be massive. I’ve made my seeded position now so I can finally play with a bit of pressure off. The crowd were fantastic today and will hopefully be just as loud tomorrow.
“There’s always pressure going into a final, especially when you’re a defending champion. Playing Nicol there won’t be pressure because she’s world number one but it just comes down to playing my game plan as well as I can on each day,” she added.
The Malaysian number one David added, “Alison was really fired up in the first game, I knew I had to be that intense from the beginning and I just hung in there and stayed that way throughout the match.
“It’s a repeat of the final last year, but I don’t think we’ll be doing anything differently we’re just going to be playing our best squash in the final of the British Open and you should expect a really good battle.
“The British Open to me is very prestigious, it’s like winning the World title. It has so much history behind it and just knowing that you’re part of it makes a difference when you’re out there on court playing squash in front of a great crowd.”
Women’s Semi Finals
[2] Laura Massaro (Eng) bt [3] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) 6/11, 11/8, 11/4, 11/7 (44m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [5] Alison Waters (Eng) 8/11, 11/5, 11/4, 11/2 (43m)