Grayson and Al Tamimi Set Up Australian Open Final Clash

#PSAWorldTour

New Zealand’s Campbell Grayson and Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi of Qatar will contest the final of the 2016 Australian Open, PSA M15 tournament after semi-final wins over Joe Lee and Joel Makin, respectively in Melbourne.

Second seed Grayson came into his encounter with England’s Lee having not dropped a game throughout the tournament, but went 1-0 down after Lee prevailed on a first-game tie-break.

However, Grayson dug in and responded by taking the next three games without reply to claim a 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 victory to reach his first PSA World Tour final since April.

Al Tamimi, meanwhile, was taking on a dangerous opponent in World No.82 Joel Makin, who defeated pre-tournament title favourite Paul Coll in a shock quarter-final win. Al Tamimi also went a game down early on but, like Grayson, produced a fine comeback to take the win in four and the 21-year-old is just one win away from a third PSA World Tour title.

Spectators at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre were also treated to an appearance by eight-time Women’s World Champion Nicol David before the day’s matches got underway.

The Malaysian superstar took on Men’s World No.137 Rhys Dowling in an exhibition match and an entertaining spectacle saw David go 2-1 up, before a shoulder injury sustained by Dowling after a particularly high-octane rally brought a premature end to the match.

Results – Semi-Final: Australian Open 2016
[3] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [8] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-1: 6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6
[2] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [4] Joe Lee (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8

Watch live streaming of the Australian Open final

Final: Order of Play (time is local GMT)
17:45 [3] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v [2] Campbell Grayson (NZL)