Barada, Nicol set up final clash

By Raju Chainani

CAIRO, AUG. 25. A knee injury led to Jonathon Power conceding his semifinal to Ahmed Barada and for the second year running, the Egyptian superstar is to play world No. 1 Peter Nicol in the final of the US $ 110,000 Al Ahram squash international. Barada was 9-15, 15-10, 7-5 ahead when Power, who had fallen heavily on his back in the second game, decided he could not continue.

Nicol was very business like as he beat England's Simon Parke 12- 15, 15-6, 15-5, 15-7 in 63 minutes.

The ladies final is a Trans-Tasmania affair between Australia's Carol Owens and New Zealand's Leilani Joyce. It took Owens 45 minutes to defeat a lacklustre Natalie Grainger (England) 9-2, 9- 3, 10-8 but Joyce was even quicker as she disposed of England's Tania Bailey 9-2, 9-3, 9-0 in 32 minutes.

The talking point on Friday was what really happened to Jonathon Power. His opponent, Ahmed Barada told the referee that he had not touched him. From the referees chair it was difficult to accurately judge. Television replays suggest there was physical contact but it was accidental. Power felt he had been hacked off. The Canadian has a swollen knee and looks a doubtful starter for next week's Cathay Pacific Open in Hong Kong.

Leilani Joyce has been in superb touch all week and this night it was no different as she put young Tania Bailey to the sword. The 20-year-old English lady never had her nose in front during the match and found the pace injected by Joyce too hot to handle. ``Tania beat me in Germany in April. She cannot be taken lightly and has improved a great deal. I was keen on avenging that defeat. This is my fourth trip to Egypt and it's nice to come back to familiar surroundings,'' said the British Open champion.

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Section  : Sport
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