RESULTS: Sky Open, Cairo, Egypt
Semi-finals:
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (33m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5 (60m)
A stunning straight games defeat of top seed Ramy Ashour by fellow Egyptian Karim Darwish, followed by a four-game win by Nick Matthew over Frenchman Thierry Lincou in the $150,000 Sky Open, will take Englishman Matthew to the top of the PSA world squash rankings for the first time next month.
It was a dramatic evening of world-class action in the semi-finals of the third, and biggest so far this year, PSA Super Series 2010 event, on an all-glass court at the Sky Resort in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
Darwish, the 28-year-old fourth seed, went into the match with Egyptian team-mate Ashour, the world number one since January, 4/7 down in their career head-to-head record - and only last month lost to the 22-year-old in the Egyptian national championship final.
But Darwish, the defending champion who had already beaten two former world number ones en-route to the last four, was determined to make the Sky Open final in his home city for the third year in a row - and despatched his rival 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 in just 33 minutes to claim his 30th appearance in a PSA Tour final.
Incredibly, the result was Ashour's quickest defeat in a PSA World Tour ranking event since May 2006!
The Ramy rout set up one of the most crucial matches of his life for Nick Matthew, the second seed and world number two behind Ashour since the beginning of the year.
Such was the narrow margin of Ashour's lead in the PSA list that pre-event calculations showed that all that Yorkshireman Matthew had to do was finish ahead of his rival in Cairo to take over the top spot.
Matthew also faced a former world number one in his bid: veteran Frenchman Thierry Lincou, the 34-year-old seventh seed celebrating his first appearance in a Super Series semi since November 2008.
The 29-year-old from Sheffield dropped his first game of the tournament in this all-important clash - but fought back to beat Lincou 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5 in exactly one hour to achieve his life-long dream.
"It's a strange feeling right now as I've only won a semi final so it feels like I've not finished the job yet," said a jubilant Matthew afterwards. "But obviously I'm delighted, more so for the people at home; my parents, family, friends, manager, coach, trainer, physio, etc. etc.
"I've been a professional since 1998 and I've been working towards this every single day of my life since then, and couldn't have done it without their help.
"I go on holiday to Mexico next week and it's going to be a fantastic holiday now!!!"
Matthew is also celebrating his 34th appearance in a PSA Tour final - and, win or lose in the final, the Englishman will continue to head the 2010 PSA Super Series rankings.