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MANCHESTER, England: Madeline Perry followed her shock win over world number one Nicol David by becoming the first Irish woman to reach the British Open final on Sunday.
Perry, seeded fifth, came from match point down against Malaysia's David in the quarter-finals and upset the seedings again in the semi-finals, this time winning 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 against Alison Waters, the third seed from England.
These successes represent a greater triumph even than Perry's effort in the same stadium here last year, when she reached the semi-final of the World Open before losing to David.
They were also further reward for the immense courage she showed in recovering from a career-threatening head injury two years ago when she was mugged while out walking.
Perry seemed buoyed by her career-best victory the day before, moving fluently and urgently, more often being the one to dictate the pattern of the rallies, and digging in hard when Waters came back from 5-9 to 9-9 in the fourth game, supported by her home crowd.
"I was concerned - even though I had beaten Nicol," Perry admitted. "I was aware that Alison would come out fast and furious and I had to be up for it and work hard and I think I did that in the end.
"Obviously beating the number one is going to boost your confidence. I have had good results in the past but I have not beaten that many world number ones.
"I was trying to keep calm last night and not get carried away. I got a bit nervous towards the end, but I really hammered that last ball.
"I am very proud of where I come from, a small country," said Perry, who comes from Banbridge, near Belfast, Northern Ireland.
"This must put me up there with the best Northern Irish squash players," she said, prompting the master of ceremonies to joke that this was a group of one.
Another player to represent Ireland, Jonah Barrington, who had a father from the Irish Republic, and who went to Trinity College, Dublin, won the British Open six times in the sixties and early seventies - but no Irish woman has come anywhere near Perry's achievements.
She plays Rachael Grinham in the final. Grinham, the second-seeded elder of the well-known Australian sisters and three times a winner of the British Open, reached the final by winning 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6 against Jenny Duncalf, the British national champion from Harrogate.
For the first time in 70 years, the men's final will be between two Englishmen with Nick Matthew, the former British Open champion, and James Willstrop, last year's runner-up, both coming through their semi-finals.
Matthew overcame Peter Barker, a fellow member of England's world team title winning squad 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, and Willstrop showed that he is making a good recovery from injury and illness, scoring a surprisingly one-sided win over Amr Shabana, the third-seeded former world champion.
Willstrop, who beat another Egyptian, the top-seeded Karim Darwish, in the second round, this time won 11-5, 11-6, 11-1, preserving his energies well against a below-par Shabana. - AFP/de
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