Men's final:

[5] David Palmer (AUS) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG)  11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 13-11 (111m)

Women's final:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG)       9-1, 10-8, 9-0 (40m)

David Palmer & Nicol David
Foil English British Open Double

Hopes of an English double were foiled in tonight's (Monday) finals of the Dunlop British Open - Liverpool 2008 squash championships when Australia's David Palmer clinched the men's title for the fourth time and Malaysian Nicol David the women's crown for a third time at the ECHO Arena in Liverpool.

In what will go down as one of the most dramatic men's finals in the prestigious event's 80-year-old history, fifth seed Palmer squandered a 2/0 lead against England's James Willstrop, then saved two championship balls in the decider to beat the fourth seed 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 13-11 in a 111-minute thriller.

Underdog Palmer, who had reached the final after his semi-final opponent Karim Darwish conceded the match he was leading after sustaining an Achilles injury, was in commanding form in the first two games and well into the third.

But Willstrop, 24, from Leeds, showed true Yorkshire grit by fighting back to level the match and moving 9-6 ahead.

Both players were clearly exhausted, but fought for every point - causing gasps of amazement from the capacity Arena crowd as irretrievable balls were retrieved.

The Englishman had match balls at 10-9 and 11-10 - but it was the 31-year-old from New South Wales who ultimately prevailed in the longest match of the tournament - and the longest British Open final since 1997.

"You've got to take your hat off to him," said British National champion Willstrop afterwards.  "I didn't have an answer in the first two games - but then I dug in.  He's a true champion - it's no disgrace, I've just got to accept it!"

Palmer admitted that he thought he was 'home and dry' at 6-4 up in the fourth.  "I then got a bit slow - and he took advantage.  James is a great guy and a great ambassador for the sport."

After a seesaw last half of the final game, Palmer reached match ball at 12-11, then noticed that his racket was cracked and walked off court to replace it.  Amazingly, the winning shot that followed was a miss hit off the frame, which ended in the sidewall nick!

"We both had a few lucky bounces - I don't know what happened in the final shot, it came off my frame for a cross-court nick.  'I'll take that', I thought."

Earlier, Nicol David, in her fourth successive women's final, faced final debutante Jenny Duncalf, the fifth seed from Harrogate who beat Australia's defending champion Rachael Grinham en-route to the climax.

David, eager to make up for the disappointment of her shock defeat in last year's final, romped to a first game win in just eight minutes - then forged a 7-2 lead in the second.

But Duncalf, buoyed by a near capacity home crowd at the brand new ECHO Arena, fought back to level the game then moved to within a point of taking the game.

However, the 24-year-old from Penang rallied to save the game-ball and went on to win the match 9-1, 10-8, 9-0 in 40 minutes to secure her third title in four years.

"She's a very special player," said Duncalf of her opponent afterwards.  "I just couldn't make any headway.  I certainly could have done with that second game - it would have given me a lot of momentum."

Nicol David, now celebrating her fifth successive WISPA World Tour title and her 17th in 20 events, admitted that losing the title last year hit her hard:  "I was really devastated - it was there for the taking.

"But you get stronger - you learn what you have to do.  You don't let anything get in your way.

"I knew she was going for it in the second game - she had nothing to lose.  I had to make sure I didn't let her in."

Yorkshireman James Willstrop ensured that there will be English interest in both finals of the Dunlop British Open Squash Championships for only the second time in 44 years when he overwhelmed Frenchman Thierry Lincou in straight games in tonight's (Sunday) men's semi-finals at the ECHO Arena in Liverpool.

The 24-year-old world No3 from Leeds avenged his recent defeat by the former world number one in Kuwait, winning 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 in 50 minutes to reach the final for the second time. 

Earlier Jenny Duncalf - also from Yorkshire - beat French qualifier Isabelle Stoehr to claim a maiden place in the women's final. 

Willstrop, now in his sixth Tour final in seven events, was in stunning form against Lincou.  The British national champion had answers for everything that the experienced Lincou could throw at him.

After winning the first two games, Willstrop returned to the court knowing that only two weeks earlier he had been in a similar position in the Kuwait Open - yet lost in a five-game thriller!

"Kuwait was a good lesson for me - tonight I kept it simple and had to be as positive and tough as I could," said the Englishman.

"For a squash player to be in the British Open final is a bit special."

When asked to comment on the comparison with his 2005 final appearance, the now 24-year-old said:  "My little muscles have become a bit stronger since then.  Hopefully I've got a bigger engine now - and I hope I'll be able to use it!"

A forlorn Lincou admitted that his opponent never showed any signs of fatigue nor gave him any easy points.  "He was just too good - he played amazing squash," said the 32-year-old from Marseille.  "I think he's in good shape to win it if he wants it."

Willstrop will face Australia's three times champion David Palmer.in Monday's final.  The fifth seed, appearing in his seventh semi-final in nine years, led throughout the opening game against Karim Darwish, the No7 seed from Egypt who knocked out France's defending champion Gregory Gaultier in the previous round.

But it was all-change in the second as the 26-year-old from Cairo claimed the upper hand and took the game for the loss of just three points.

And Darwish continued to press home his advantage in the third until referee Wendy Danzey stopped the game, instructing the Egyptian to leave the court to have a 'blood injury to the knee' attended to.

Amazingly, it was only seconds after walking back on court that the former world junior champion turned back - signalling that he could no longer continue.  It later transpired that he had also strained his Achilles tendon earlier in the match.

"It feels great to be in the final - but a little strange," said the 31-year-old Australian who was also taken aback by the abrupt curtailment of the match.

"I thought he'd caught his knee - I didn't realise it was anything to do with his ankle.  But I was in trouble at that point in the match - I'd played pretty well in the first game but he totally turned it round in the next."

Jenny Duncalf, the world number eight who had never before lost to her lower-ranked opponent, admitted that she was "a little bit edgy" in the early part of the match against Stoehr - and dropped the first game.

The 25-year-old fifth seed from Harrogate fought back and finally converted her fourth match ball to record a 4-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-6 triumph after 73 minutes.

"I'm ecstatic to be in the final - this has to be the best result of my life," added Duncalf.

Later Malaysia's top seed Nicol David put in a powerful performance to beat Natalie Grainger, the Manchester-born fourth seed from the USA.

Grainger led 5-2 in the first game - but only scored one further point in the match as David took control and stormed to a 9-5, 9-1, 9-0 victory in just 27 minutes.

Champions Chopped In British Open Upsets

Within the first three hours of the first day of action in the Dunlop British Open - Liverpool 2008 squash championships at the ECHO Arena Liverpool, both champions were out of the tournament at the quarter-finals stage.

The men's event produced two successive shocks in the afternoon session when the defeat of defending champion Gregory Gaultier was followed by the surprise exit of top seed and world number one Amr Shabana.

In the women's event England's Jenny Duncalf upset title-holder Rachael Grinham.

There will be English interest in both the men's and women's semi-finals of the after Yorkshireman James Willstrop survived a 61-minute battle against England team-mate Peter Barker in the men's quarter-finals

In a hard-fought and relentless encounter, 24-year-old Willstrop recovered from a swift second game loss to defeat left-handed Londoner Barker 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8.

"It was an absolute scrap," said the England number one, who now reached the last four for the second time in four years.  "I didn't feel either of us controlled the game well - but it was a good game and an honest one against a good guy whose game has really come on.

"You get more motivated as the rounds go on," added the world number three from Leeds.

Barker, who came up against Willstrop countless times as a junior and senior, said:  "I'm very, very disappointed.  But it was no disgrace.  I'd be happy for James to go through to the final - and I know he'd have felt the same about me."

Third seed Gregory Gaultier, the world number two who last year became the first ever French winner of the men's trophy, crashed out 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 to Egypt's Karim Darwish, the No8 seed.

"That was the best win of my career," said the 26-year-old from Cairo who was also a semi-finalist two years ago.  "I knew I could do it - but I had to stay focussed as Greg is one of the best players around.

"I kept thinking about the last time we played - in Kuwait, where I was ahead in all of the games but he won 3/0," explained Darwish, ranked eight in the world. 

"I wasn't focussed then, but I was today - I had to believe in myself."

It was a bad day at the office for Shabana, one of the game's most gifted and mercurial talents.  After dropping the first game, the favourite came back to level the match.

But Palmer, making his 12^th appearance in the event since 1997 and champion three times, maintained the pressure to come through an 11-6, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8 winner after 49 minutes.

"I'm just happy to play at this level still - I've nothing to prove anymore," said the 31-year-old from New South Wales who recently settled in Boston, USA.

"I don't think either of us played particularly well - but maybe I wanted it a bit more," added Palmer, now in his seventh semi in nine years.

The lower half of the women's draw was thrown into disarray when Jenny Duncalf defeated Rachael Grinham, the reigning world champion and former world number one, 9-5, 1-9, 9-6, 9-1.

The 25-year-old fifth seed from Harrogate had never before beaten the three times champion from Australia:  "I don't know what happened," said a seemingly startled Duncalf later.  "I had to keep reminding myself to stay focused - you can't afford to relax for a moment with Rachael, she's so good with the racquet."

In the first British Open semi-final of her career, Duncalf will face Isabelle Stoehr after the French qualifier earlier ousted Rachael's sister Natalie Grinham, the second seed.

Grinham junior, a record three times Commonwealth Games gold medallist, won the opening game - but, at 4-0 in the second, took a lunge which caused pain in her left thigh.

"I called for the physio at 6-4.  In the break, he said I could go back on but it might make sit worse," explained the 30-year-old from Queensland who now flies the Dutch flag. 

"Sometimes pain just goes away, but when I tried a similar lunge at the beginning of the third game, the pain was so sharp I just had to stop.  Nothing like that has ever happened to me before."

Stoehr had mixed feelings about claiming her maiden appearance in the semi-finals:  "50% I'm happy and 50% I'm not," said the 28-year-old from Montpellier, who survived three qualifying matches before the first round.

"People say 'Isabelle is not fit'!  This is a good reply to those who say that. 

"Everything is now a bonus to me."

It was third time lucky for Jonathan Harford and Tom Richards in today's men's qualifying finals of the Dunlop British Open - Liverpool 2008 at Liverpool Cricket Club when the pair made it through to the main draw of the longest-established and most prestigious event in world squash for the first time.

The 'Wimbledon' of squash - being held in Liverpool for the first time - will be staged at the new ECHO Arena Liverpool from 10-12 May, following qualifying and early rounds at the Cricket Club.

Originally from Stroud and now based in Leeds, Harford was facing fellow Gloucestershire-born Robbie Temple, ranked 23 places lower in the world. 

Eager to make up for the disappointment of failing to qualify for the past two years, Harford battled for 61 minutes against his 21-year-old opponent before coming through an 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5 winner.

"We actually grew up together - I met him the first time when he was three," explained Harford to the official website www.britishopensquash.com.  "He is such a talented player.  Did you see the shots he got - from behind him, from everywhere?  He really is one of the players I want to see do well.

"Last year, I lost 3/2 in the finals of the qualifiers, so I’m so happy to qualify this year for my first British Open, and so looking forward to tomorrow," added Harford, who meets Frenchman Thierry Lincou, the sixth seed.

Richards, a former England Junior International from Surrey, is fighting back to full fitness after undergoing knee surgery a year ago.  The 21-year-old world No64 despatched compatriot Scott Handley - a 33-year-old from Oxfordshire making his eighth attempt to qualify - 11-3, 11-4, 11-10 (3-1) in 30 minutes.

"He was just awesome," said Handley, a former world No41, after the quickest men's match of the day.  "He's the best player I've played in a long time. 

"I should have had him in the third when I had a game ball - but he stepped up the pace and won the important shots."

Richards acknowledged that he's now back to the level he was before his surgery:  "In fact, I'm probably stronger now - all the hard work I have done has finally kicked in," said the 21-year-old from Walton-on-Thames, who failed to qualify in both 2005 and 2006

"It's fantastic to be in the British Open for the first time.  I remember watching the event, years ago in Cardiff - it's difficult to believe that I'm now in it!

"The knee is much better than I expected.  I'm now just ten positions away from my best world ranking - and this result today will be a great help," said Richards, who faces fellow countryman Adrian Grant, the 12th seed.

British Open history was achieved today when Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan beat England's Shaun le Roux, from Yorkshire, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 to ensure that three Malaysians will compete in the first round of the men's event for the first time.

"I am so happy to make it into this world-famous event for the first time," said the 22-year-old from Kuala Lumpur, who joins 10th seed Ong Beng Hee and 11th seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar in the main draw.

Nottingham-based Emma Beddoes pulled off the most notable upset in the women's qualifying event when she downed Essex's world No25 Lauren Briggs 9-1, 9-6, 3-9, 10-8 in 64 minutes to earn a place in the qualifying finals. 

The Warwickshire 22-year-old will now face Madeline Perry for a place in the main draw after the Irish number one dismissed India's Joshna Chinappa 9-4, 10-8, 9-1 in just 25 minutes.