DEFENDING champion Laura Massaro overturned two match balls and a late finish to beat Nouran Gohar and reach the final of the Dubai World Series Finals.

The East Lancashire squash star, in the final for the third year in a row, will face Nour El Sherbini in the final tonight.

Friday night's semi-final finished after midnight as Massaro prevailed 12-14, 12-10, 11-7 in 47 minutes.

Hoghton's Massaro squandered two game balls in the opener to go 1-0 behind and looked to be heading out after Gohar went 10-8 up in game two.

But Massaro took four points in a row to set up a decider, which she took for the loss of seven points.

"Saving two match balls is brilliant and I’m really proud of myself, but I’m also really annoyed that I let three game balls in the first go," said Massaro.

"It’s a tough situation for us both, it’s really late and even though you get up late and do everything you can to recover, your body clock says that you should be in bed and not warming up for a squash match.

"It’s a tough situation and it’s the same for both. Maybe I had a bit of an edge because I’ve been playing this time every day, so that was helpful. Overall, I just need to let it sink in, but I’m really happy to be through."

Massaro will now face El Sherbini who beat top seed Camille Serme 15-17, 11-3, 12-10 in 60 minutes.

The World Series Finals brings together the top eight players on the Men’s and Women’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings who are then split into two groups of four, with matches played in a best-of-three games format.

Players then battle for points to qualify for the knockout semi-finals and beyond, while the final will be contested in the regular best-of-five games format.