Palmer beats Beachill; Nicol beats Lincou  [masters complete results]

David Palmer kept the upper hand against Lee Beachill (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert)

Showing no signs of his 114-minute quarter-final battle less than 24 hours earlier, Australia's sixth seed David Palmer charged through to the final of the $120,000 PSA Qatar Masters after upsetting England's fourth seed Lee Beachill 15-8 11-15 15-13 15-13 in the semi-finals at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in Doha.

Now in his first Masters final, Palmer will meet arch-rival Peter Nicol, the 2000 champion, who in exactly the same time - 73 minutes - recovered from a game down to beat France's top seed Thierry Lincou 9-15 17-16 15-14 15-8.

After his nail-biting victory over title-holder John White to reach the semi-finals, Palmer had once again to call upon all of his considerable energies to beat Beachill in another gut-wrenching performance.

Palmer's victory avenged his straight games loss to the Yorkshireman in last month's Bermuda Open final, and marked the end of Beachill's unbeaten run in Doha after winning the Qatar Classic in December.

"David was a tough opponent," Beachill told the Gulf Times afterwards. "He is a World Open champion and also the British Open champion. And you don't win these if you are not good enough. I thought he was tired, but obviously he is not. He has superb fitness," added the 26-year-old who can now look forward to travelling home to Pontefract for the impending birth of his first son.

"I was aiming at the top rung but I will get more chances to consolidate my position. And eventually I will be No1 if I keep working hard," added Beachill, the current world No4. "I am pretty excited about fatherhood right now. This is the last stage of pregnancy and it is nice to go back home."

David Palmer kept the upper hand against Lee Beachill (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert)

Palmer conceded to Gulf Times that he is in the best possible shape ever, both physically and mentally: "I am right there. I was happy to come through against (John) White yesterday. That was a tough match and today another tough match," said the Australian, ranked six in the world. "Tough because Lee had a great six months. I put pressure on him but he played well."

Nicol had his second successive tough test against a Frenchman in his semi against Thierry Lincou, the 28-year-old from Paris who became world No1 after a remarkably run of consistency in 2003, including a final berth in the PSA Masters twelve months ago.

The victory marks Nicol's 66th appearance in a PSA Tour final, and his seventh against Palmer - two of which were in Doha, with the Englishman victorious on both occasions. Their last meeting in a final, however, was in England last October, when Palmer claimed his sole final win over his rival to lift the British Open trophy for the second time.

RESULTS: PSA Qatar Masters Squash Championship, Doha, Qatar

Semi-finals:
[3] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 9-15, 17-16, 15-14, 15-8 (73m)
[6] David Palmer (AUS) bt [4] Lee Beachill (ENG) 15-8, 11-15, 15-13, 15-13 (73m)

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