Egypt and world top seed squash stars Mohamed El-Shorbagy and Nour El-Sherbini failed Thursday to reach the 2017 JP Morgan Tournament of Champions (TOC) final, while Karim Abdel-Gawad qualified handily.

Defending champion and world number one Mohamed El-Shorbagy lost to world number 3 Gregory Gaultier of France 3-1 (12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11 and 11-7) in the tournament's semi-final.

Egyptian star and world number 2 Karim Abdel-Gawad needed only 42 minutes to defeat number 11 Englishman James Willstrop 3-0 (11-6, 11-8 and 11-6).

Abdel-Gawad will face Gaultier in the tournament's final on Thursday.

"I've played here a few times before and I’ve never made it beyond the second round stage before so to be in the final is an amazing achievement and a dream come true," Abdel-Gawad said.

"James is such a great player that I knew I had to start very strong today and make sure I didn’t let him get into his game. I feel like I’m playing well so hopefully I can well here again tomorrow and win another big title." The Egyptian squash star concluded.

In the women's competition, world number 1 Nour El-Sherbini did not qualify for the TOC final, after losing to number 4 Camille Serme of France 3-1 (11-7, 7-11, 11-6 and 11-6).

The prestigious tournament, held in New York, marks the kick-off of this year's PSA World Series calendar.

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