Ashour Through to Final in Five...

In the best match of the tournament thus far, #3 seed Ramy Ashour (EGY) has reached the final, coming back from 1-6 down in the fifth game to upend the tournament's top seed, his countryman Karim Darwish, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 in 74 minutes.

Said a breathless Ashour afterwards, "After all this running, I can hardly talk. At times I lost my concentration, it's not always easy to keep my focus on the court."

The final stanza was really a tale of two games. Darwish kept up the momentum from his 4th-game win at the outset, racing out in front 6-1. But his movement seemed hampered from that point on, the accumulation of too many long rallies and fully-stretched lunges for Ashour's clever boasts and drops, and the younger Egyptian's legs helped him win 9 consecutive points to get to 10-6 up, a point away from the win.

Darwish won his last point to get to within 7-10 when Ashour dumped a forehand volley in the tin, before the 2008 World Open champion (beating Darwish in a 4-game final) won the final point with a forehand drive that Darwish had no answer for.

Said the winner, "I was actually thinking a bit about Manchester [during the match]. I lost against him last year on this court (in the QFs)... I can’t really analyze how it happens on the court—I just do it.

Just did it, indeed, and Ashour is into Saturday's final, where he awaits the winner of tonight's second semifinal between Gregory Gaultier and Nick Matthew. That match gets underway momentarily.