The Egyptian, who already set a record as the youngest semi-finalist in World Championship history at just 18-years-old, now becomes the first unseeded player to reach the final in more than 20 years.

The victory could not have looked further away at the end of the first game, as Malaysia's seven-time world champion cruised to an 11-4 win.

But the youngster hit back well in the second, securing the game 11-9 before storming to an 11-6 victory in the third.

As the alarm bells started to ring for David, the 30-year-old looked to have steadied the ship in the fourth game, dominating her opponent 11-2 to pull the match level.

A truly remarkable feat of strength from the underdog saw her hold her nerve in the decider however, as she dug deep to pull off an 11-9 victory to seal the match and book her place in tomorrow's World Championship final, which is the 2013 edition delayed from last year. 

"I'm just so happy - I never thought I could have won this match," said the jubilant El Sherbini.

"I always lose to Nicol 3-0 and it was never easy getting points off her.

"But I thought since I had nothing to lose, I just went out to enjoy my game.

"I feel so sorry for her...and bad too for beating Nicol in front of her home crowd.

"But I think the pressure was on her.

"I'm also the second player from my country to make the final after Omneya [Abdel Kawy] so I'm really happy and I hope Egypt will be proud of me too."

Nicol David congratulates her opponent Nour El Sherbini after her shock victory in the Women's World Squash Championship semi-final ©Getty Images



The young Egyptian will now face England's Laura Massaro in the final, following the world number two's victory over Egypt's Raneem El Welily in the other semi-final.

In an extremely tight encounter, second-seed Massaro stepped up when it really mattered to seal the win 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, and book her spot in her second successive World Championship final.

"Against Raneem it was more tough mentally because I didn't know whether she was going to hit a nick or the tin," said Massaro, the reigning British Open champion.

"But I felt that I was better physically and it definitely feels great to be in the final once more."

The final will represent only the second ever meeting between Massaro and El Sherbini, with the English player having triumphed in their only clash, in the Malaysian Open quarter-finals in September 2012.

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