Matthew To Face Title-Holder Lincou In Gerrard Grand Prix Final

England's unseeded Nick Matthew defeated Australia's third seed Anthony Ricketts in today's third and final qualifying round of the Gerrard Grand Prix Championship at the National Squash Centre in Manchester to celebrate his third successive win in the event - and a place in Monday's final.

The 25-year-old world No9 from Sheffield will face defending champion Thierry Lincou, the world No1 and world champion from France, who also retained his unbeaten record in the event by beating Egypt's former world champion Amr Shabana in the final match of the night in the other qualifying group.

Nick Matthew has been in sensational form throughout the event - and needed to be to overcome Ricketts, the world No6 and runner-up in last week's world tour event in St Louis, USA. In the longest men's match of the championship, Matthew triumphed 11-8 8-11 11-8 11-7 in 69 minutes to record his first tournament victory over the Australian.

"This is my British Open," said the Yorkshireman who earlier revealed that a mix-up had led to him missing the entry deadline for the established event which is due to be staged at the same venue next month.

Matthew, runner-up in last month's English Open in his home town Sheffield, is enjoying a good run since undergoing a major training schedule this summer. "I had a wake-up call in the World Games in July when I let slip a significant lead against Thierry Lincou by not being able to respond to a fight-back by my opponent.

"Now I can dig deep when the chips are down and my confidence is growing all the time. I feel I'm more in control of my game than ever before - I'm being more consistent and the difference is showing in my results," explained Matthew.

Lincou beat Shabana 11-1 5-11 11-3 11-5 in 31 minutes - and immediately expressed his delight at being in the Gerrard final for the second successive year: "It's a really nice feeling to qualify again - the more I have been playing here, the better I think I have become. I'm really focussed and looking forward to playing Nick in the final.

"But we've had a couple of close matches recently - he's an aggressive and an attacking player, so I'll need to play well and get off to a good start," added the 29-year-old from Marseille.

Earlier, Yorkshireman James Willstrop raised his hopes of making the final with a 5-11 11-6 11-8 11-4 win over Scotland's former world No1 John White. But Lincou's 100% record puts the world No8 in second position in the Manchester group - and into Monday's Grand Prix play-off for third place.

Willstrop's Pontefract club-mate Lee Beachill, the world No2 and second seed in the event, earned the runner-up position in the other group behind Matthew, after beating Egypt's Karim Darwish 11-9 11-4 11-4 in 30 minutes.

Remarkably, this final match in the Gerrard group produced the first straight games win of the event.

Earlier in the day, third seed Anthony Ricketts had commented: "It shows how close we all are - and how open the men's game is at the moment," said the Australian when it was noted that none of the matches then had been resolved in three games.

The women's final proved to be the longest and most dramatic match of the tournament, with Manchester star Vicky Botwright coming back from 2/0 to overcome England team-mate Jenny Duncalf in an 88-minute marathon.

"It was strange after the first two games - I didn't feel at all tired, and thought I was moving well and playing well, yet I was two games down! I thought to myself, 'Jenny must be playing really well'," said the 28-year-old world No7.

"I told myself to get stuck in and make less errors and eventually I came through," explained the winner from Worsley.

But Botwright was delighted with her maiden title victory on her home courts at the National Squash Centre: "It's always good playing at home - and it's fantastic to have won my first big title in Manchester. It's great for my confidence - let's hope I can carry on playing this well at next month's British Open on these same courts."

In the play-off for this place, Lincolnshire's world No10 Tania Bailey narrowly claimed the third game against Lancashire's Laura-Jane Lengthorn to move 2/1 ahead. But the former world No4, who is suffering from an adductor strain in her right leg, decided not to risk further damage and concede the match to her opponent with the score standing at 2-9 9-4 9-10.

Men's 3rd and final qualifying round:

Manchester Group
James Willstrop (ENG) bt John White (SCO) 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (42m)
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [4] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-1, 5-11, 11-3, 11-5 (31m)

Gerrard Group
Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [3] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7 (69m)
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (30m)

Women's final:
Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 8-10, 8-10, 10-8, 9-7, 9-4 (88m)

3rd place play-off:
Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) bt Tania Bailey (ENG) 2-9, 9-4, 9-10 ret. (48m)