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Pohrer Upsets World No1's Party

Within hours of becoming world No1 for the first time in her career, New
Zealand's Carol Owens crashed out of today's (Friday) semi-finals of the
$102,500 Qatar Women's World Open Squash Championship in Doha, forfeiting a
two-game advantage to England's third seed Natalie Pohrer.

Natalie Pohrer (r) stuns Carol Owens and reaches the final against Sarah Fitz-Gerald © 2001 Fritz Borchert

Following today's revelation that Owens had succeeded Australia's Sarah Fitz-Gerald as world No1 - despite not having beaten the four-times world
champion for almost two years - Saturday's anticipated final between the event's top two seeds was set to resolve the issue. However, despite going
two games down against second-seeded Owens, US-based Pohrer maintained her
focus against the 2000 champion and, after saving a match-ball at 6-8 in the fifth, claimed her stunning 5-9, 2-9, 9-5, 9-1, 10-8 victory in 61 minutes.

"My most memorable moment of my career without a shadow of doubt," said 25-year-old Pohrer after her historic victory. "I have got beaten in the semis twice before. Carol is such a nightmare to play. She comes out so fast and it's like trying to stop a train. I am absolutely thrilled to be in the final. It really is unbelievable," added the world No4.

In her first world final, Pohrer will face top seed Sarah Fitz-Gerald, the
defending champion who is celebrating her sixth appearance. Despite
conceding her first game in the tournament, Fitz-Gerald beat England's 4th
seed Linda Charman 9-2, 1-9, 9-4, 9-3 in 48 minutes.

"Linda is strong and steady, and she certainly rattled me in the second,"
said the new world No2 from Melbourne. "It was like our French Open final,
but I got a little further ahead this time."

David Palmer (l) stops John White to reach the final against Peter Nicol © 2001 Fritz Borchert

The final of the men's $120,000 Qatar Classic will feature England's defending champion Peter Nicol, the favourite, and Australia's third seed David Palmer. World No1 Nicol let slip a 2-0 lead against Australian Stewart Boswell before beating the fourth seed 15-8, 15-12, 11-15, 7-15, 15-2.

In the other semi-final, Scotland's fifth seed John White was unable to
reproduce the same form which led him to his third successive upset over former champion Jonathon Power in the previous round. The in-form Super Series Finals champion David Palmer, winner of two further titles - the US Open and South African Challenge - within the last six weeks, overpowered White 15-13, 15-7, 14-15, 15-5 in 61 minutes to reach the final against Nicol for the second successive year.

RESULTS:

Qatar Women's World Open Squash Championship, Doha, QatarSemi-finals:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt [4] Linda Charman (ENG) 9-2, 1-9, 9-4, 9-3
(48m)
[3] Natalie Pohrer (ENG) bt [2] Carol Owens (NZL) 5-9, 2-9, 9-5, 9-1, 10-8
(61m)

Qatar Squash Classic, Doha, Qatar
Semi-finals:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [4] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 15-8, 15-12, 11-15, 7-15,
15-2
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [5] John White (SCO) 15-13, 15-7, 14-15, 15-5 (61m)

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