While the 1st semi-final at the tournament of Champions between Ramy Ashour and James Willstrop was only 39 minutes, the 2nd semi-final between England’s World No1 and current World Champion Nick Matthew (pic back) and Egypt’s 4-times World Champion Amr Shabana (pic front) was drama of the highest order. Matthew got off to a dominating start to lead 2-0 in games. But two-time Tournament of Champions title-holder Amr Shabana fought back to take the next 2 games to level the match much to the crowd’s roaring delight. After 88 minutes of dramatic, sometimes breathtaking, squash, Matthew took the final game in the tiebreak to reach his 3rd Tournament of Champions final. “This match was a test of physical and mental capacity. But that wasn’t surprising, considering I was playing one of the best players of all time”, said Matthew after the match.
