Malaysia's squash queen and world no.1, Datuk Nicol Ann David was on track in her attempt to clinch her seventh Malaysian Open title.
In today's semifinals of the 2011 CIMB Malaysian Open squash championship held at The Curve shopping mall in Mutiara Damansara near here, the 27-year-old Nicol defeated Egypt's Omneya Abdel Kawy in a straight set of 11-9, 12-10 and 11-4.
"Today's match was a little bit up and down. Playing against Omneya, she always comes out with some good shots and I have to pay attention to that. I just have to watch out and no doubt she makes some mistakes at the crucial time.
"I have to work extra hard in the first two games and if I give her a little bit of time or opening, she could just take it away. Omneya always plays her best squash against me," said Nicol.
Nicol will be meeting arch rival, England's Jenny Duncalf in tomorrow's finals match.
"I'll meet her (Jenny) again in the final, here. It's just a great energy boost when you have a strong support from the crowd. I will give my best tomorrow," said Nicol, adding that she did not want to think about her seventh Malaysian Open title and wanted to stay focused on her game.
Meanwhile, second seed Jenny outclassed Camile Serme of France in a straight set of 14-12, 11-5 and 11-8 in a 39-minute match to book her berth in the final.
Earlier in the men's category, top seed Gregory Gaultier of France defeated Alan Clyne of Scotland to book his berth in the finals.
He won the semifinals match in a straight set of 11-5, 11-5 and 11-1 in 37 minutes.
"It was not easy because the condition (in the court) was really hot. I just tried to play as simple as posible. I think Clyne was a bit tired from all matches because he came through from the qualifying.
"I just want to do my best in the tournament as it is the first tournament of the second half of the season. I will try to win and get back my confidence (after recovering from a hamstring injury)," said Gaultier, who was the world no.1 in 2009.
The 28-year-old Gaultier had to rest for two months due to injury sustained in January and had only played in three Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournaments this year and reached the semifinals in two of them.
While in another semifinal, Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan defeated Australia's Cameron Pilley, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4 and 11-9 in 54 minutes.
-- BERNAMA
