KUALA LUMPUR — England’s Laura Massaro and Nour El Sherbini of Egypt Friday set up a clash for the World Squash Championship, in a rematch of the 2013 edition won by the British world No. 1.
The pair will meet Saturday after Massaro prevailed in a tightly contested semifinal against Egyptian Raneem El Welily, while Sherbini, the world No. 2 player, cruised past her teammate Nouran Gohar.
Massaro has looked strong in Malaysia but had her hands full against El Welily, squandering a 10-6 lead in the fifth and final game and allowing the Egyptian to pull level at 10 points each.
But Massaro closed out the world No. 3 to win 11-2, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, and 12-10.
Massaro said afterwards she was looking forward to proving she belonged at squash’s pinnacle despite not always winning the biggest events.
“Some people get talking when you don’t make the finals of big events. I had my reasons for that and it’s nice to prove people wrong,” she said.
El Sherbini had dispatched squash star Nicol David, the defending champion, in the quarterfinals to crush the Malaysian’s hopes of a ninth world title, and she was in devastating form again against her younger compatriot.
El Sherbini won 11-5, 11-5, 11-5, needing just 29 minutes to secure her second shot at the world’s top prize. A win would make her Egypt’s first women’s world champ.
“Laura has been playing good in this tournament but I am going to give it everything I have and I am sure it is going to be a good match,” she said. “I really want to win this tournament, for my country, for Raneem and Nouran, and for everyone.”
David’s loss to El Sherbini left her hometown fans stunned and provided further evidence that her decade-long dominance of the game has ended.
The Malaysian has a record eight world championships but has suffered a dip in form over the past year. In September she surrendered her phenomenal nine-year stranglehold on the world’s No. 1 ranking.
But David expressed confidence that she could stay among the sport’s elite despite falling to a previously unthinkable world No. 5, and she shot down speculation that she may consider retiring soon.
“Disappointed — but not even close to retirement,” she tweeted late Thursday after her loss.
