France's Gregory Gaultier and England's Laura Massaro won the Allam British Open titles Sunday after beating Nick Matthew and Sarah-Jane Perry respectively in the final.
World number three Gaultier defeated world number four Nick Matthew of England 3-1 in the men's final, claiming the prestigious title for the third time after previous successes in 2007 and 2014.
The victory of the 34-year-old Frenchman will see him overtake Egypt's Mohamed Elshorbagy at the summit of the World Rankings to become the oldest-ever World No.1.
“I only found out a few days ago that there were three of us who could get to number one. I wasn’t thinking about that during the week, I was focusing on playing well and executing my tactics," Gaultier was quoted as saying on the competition's website.
“I had a great week and a great feeling on the court. I was moving well, and to be number one again at my age is an amazing feeling – it’s a pure pleasure,” he added.
In an all-English final, Massaro (5) defeated Sarah-Jane Perry (8) 3-1 in the women's event.
The 2016 champions Mohamed Elshorbagy and Nour El-Sherbini of Egypt were eliminated from the semis on Saturday after losing to Nick Matthew and Massaro respectively.
(For more sportsnews andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.)
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/261687.aspx