Curtis, Karim reach ABC Cup final

Top seed rallies to win five-game semi-final; Karim prevails over Siow

England’s Curtis Malik overcame Yassin Shohdy of Egypt 3-2 in a closely contested semi-final of the Venice ABC Open Squash Championship at the DHA Creek Club on Saturday.

Top seed Malik won 12-10 in the opening game before taking the second 11-7. Shohdy fought back strongly, winning the next two games 11-9 and 11-8 to level the match and force a decider.

Malik held his nerve in the fifth game, winning 11-5 to complete a 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5 victory in a match that swung back and forth.

Shohdy's response after falling two games behind threatened to turn the contest around, but Malik regained control in the deciding game to seal his place in the final.

In the other semi-final, second seed Karim El Hammamy of Egypt produced a dominant performance to defeat Yee Xian Siow of Malaysia 3-0.

El Hammamy won 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, maintaining control throughout the contest and avoiding the need for a fourth game.

Karim had qualified for the semi-final after beating Asim Khan of Pakistan 3-1 in the quarter-finals.

Curtis had defeated Ziad Ibrahim of Egypt 3-0 to make it to the semi-finals.

The final between Curtis and Karim will be interesting as both players have done extremely well in the 24-man event in which Pakistani players failed to deliver.

Both Asim and Nasir Iqbal did not live up to the billings.

Meanwhile Egypt's Raneem Elaraby and Amina El Rihany advanced to the final of the women’s section.

Fourth seed Elaraby defeated compatriot Haya Rizk 3-1, recovering from a second-game setback to win 11-3, 4-11, 11-7, 11-4.

Second seed El Rihany also produced a strong performance, overcoming third seed Nour Shahin by the same scoreline. El Rihany won 11-3, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4 to book her place in the title decider.

Both the finals will be held on Sunday.