Nicol David (ri) was almost down and out as her opponent Joelle King (le) was 6-0 up in the decider, but Nicol came back an took the game 11-7 (photo: Steve Cubbins) Top seed Nicol David (ri) was the 1st player to book a place in the US Open final, but not before qualifier Joelle King (le) from New Zealand launched a thrilling comeback.
The Malaysian six-time world champion David, started off well with a 2 games lead as King came back strong to level and take the match into a decider. King looked like the winner as she raced to a 6-0 lead, but David was able to turn the momentum and took the 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 8-11, 11-7 victory.
Laura Massaro, last year’s US Open champion, raced to a 2/1 lead in games in the 2nd semi against Raneem El Weileily. The young Egyptian capitalised on Massaro’s mistakes to take the 4th game in the tie-break to force the deciding 5th game which she closed out 11-4 to make the US Open final.
Final: [1] Nicol David (MAS) vs [2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY)
Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Joelle King (NZL) 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 8-11, 11-7 (83m)
[2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [4] Laura Massaro (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4 (60m)
