The long-standing squash record of legendary Australian Geoff Hunt as the oldest male winner of the world title remains intact following world No.1 Mohamed El Shorbagy's semi-final dethroning of world champion Nick Matthew.
Hunt, a leading player for a decade and a half, was 33 years and six months old when he won the last of his four World Open titles in 1980 - but his record was under threat from the 34-year-old Matthews until Thursday's match.
El Shorbagy reached the World Open final after a semi-final of extraordinary controversy both on and off the court.
The Egyptian beat the Englishman 11-9 11-5 11-8, but the score gave little indication of the drama, or the extraordinary incident in the later stages of the first game which profoundly affected the mood of the match.
El Shorbagy's physicality and aggression eventually made him a worthy winner, though his route to victory might have been very different but for a frenzied and confusing five-minute dispute involving both players and the English referee near the end of the first game.
Asked to adjudicate on Matthew's claim that El Shorbagy had interfered with his backswing, the referee at different times appeared to give all three possible decisions - let, no let, penalty point - with both players leaving the court to make their case, and both getting him to change his mind.
Eventually no let was awarded, enabling El Shorbagy to draw level at 9-all, but only after he had called Matthew's appeal "cheeky", and appealed successfully to the video review system.
"I don't think I have ever seen anything like that," said Matthew.
"It was a farce. And I don't understand why the video did not show the interference. I really feel hard done by with that."
El Shorbagy may have to play to the very same high standard again on Friday, as the final is against his extraordinary compatriot, Ramy Ashour, just as it was in the world final he lost here two years ago.
Ashour beat the top-seeded Gregory Gaultier in straight games 17-15 15-7 15-5.
