• Semi-Finals, Sat 25th August

Carol Owens (Aus) bt Fiona Geaves (Eng)  9/5 9/0 9/1  20m
Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Stewart Boswell (Aus) 12/15 15/14 15/7 15/5  55m
Leilani Joyce (Nzl) bt Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Aus)  9/5 3/9 1/9 9/3 9/6  53m
David Palmer (Aus) bt Mark Chaloner (Eng)  15/9 15/12 15/12  45m

Aussie double still on the cards,
but Lani breaks the Fitz spell ...
action photos from the Horizon webcam

Predictions favouring an Australian double here in hong Kong are still on track, as David Palmer and Carol Owens completed relatively comfortable passages into the final. Owens will meet (soon to be fellow) New Zealander Leilani Joyce in the final, after Joyce wiped away the nightmare of four successive defeats against Sarah Fitz-Gerald. Palmer faces France's unseeded Thierry Lincou, whose amazing run continued as he beat another Australian Stewart Boswell, after losing the first.

Palmer, the tournament favourite following the early departure of world champion Peter Nicol and the withdrawal of Canadian Jonathon Power,  raced into an early 6-2 lead over England's Mark Chaloner, allowing him to close out the first game 15/9. Although Chaloner took a 7-2 lead in the second, the powerful Aussie pegged him back to 10-all took the second 15/12 and maintained a lead throughout the third. Chaloner closed to 13-12 but Palmer's sights were firmly set on his first Hong Kong title, and that world number one spot awaiting him should he win here, and he closed out the match to move into his first Hong Kong final.

The seedings suggested an all-Australian men's final, but France's Thierry Lincou has been upsetting the seedings and the odds all week here. After losing the first game, the new local favourite (Lincou declared Chinese ancestry earlier in the week) surged ahead, and completed a fairy-tale journey into the final against an ultimately dispirited Boswell.

No doubt about who the local crowd will favour in the men's final then, but the women's poses an awkward question. Is it an Aussie/Kiwi clash, or are we guaranteed a New Zealand winner.

Whichever, World #1 against World Champion has a nice ring to it. Having declared her intention to switch to Kiwi colours at thee start of the week, World Champion Carol Owens made short work of her semi-final, dispensing with England's veteran Fiona Geaves in just 20 minutes. Geaves just had no answer to Owens' pace, power and control.

Leilani Joyce, the world #1, had an almighty tussle to reach the final though, finally putting an end both to her run of losses against Sarah Fitz-Gerald, and also to Fitz-Gerald's 37-match, 8 tournament unbeaten record stretching back to last November.

It was always likely to be the match of the women's tournament, probably of the whole event, and it lived up to its billing, with Joyce taking the lead, only to find herself 2-1 down and looking at another crucial loss. Kiwi fighting spirit prevailed though, and Joyce reeled off the last two games to finally break her Fitz-Gerald jinx. The relief was apparent as the pair hugged at the end of the match as the crowd rose as one to applaud.