On a night when Noah Browne was knocked out in the semi-finals by Taylor Carrick, Micah and Eilidh Franklin were made to dig deep to book their spots in tonight’s finals in the Gnosis Bermuda National Squash Championships at the Bermuda Squash Association.

Micah, the Open men’s division defending champion, needed 32 minutes to overcome Kristian Muldoon 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, in a what turned out to be a physical contest. He will now face Carrick who defeated last year’s runner-up, Browne in the final.

Carrick required 54 minutes to overcome Browne in an intriguing semi-final. Browne took the first game 12-10 before Carrick came back to win the second 16-14 on a tie-break. Another tie-break was needed, this time for Browne to win the third game 13-11. Carrick fought hard to take the last two games 11-7, 11-3.

Micah conceded that the competition has been a lot tougher this year, which means they have to put in an extra effort to defend their titles.

“I had to work for a place in the final and I had to earn my spot,’’ Micah said.

“Just like last year my wife and I are in the final. It’s going to be even harder this year, very tough opponents for both of us.”

Earlier on, Eilidh held off a determined Susie Howells 11-6, 11-5, 17-15 in the women’s Open semi-finals. Her opponent in the final is the No 1 seed, Canadian Melina Turk, who took fourteen minutes to win 11-6, 11-2, 11-5 over Joann Bielby.

Eilidh, 30, who is back defending her title four months after giving birth to her first child, felt she was fortunate to win against Howells.

“I'm very lucky to gave sneaked through 3-0 there,’’ she said.

“We always have battles, it’s never 3-0, it’s always close neck and neck just like that third game.

“It was one of those matches where if Susie had won that third game, she could have potentially just gone all the way and won.

“I'm really excited to play Melina in the final. I've got no pressure on me, she’s a phenomenal player and I'm just looking forward to playing some good squash.”

While disappointed to lose, the 39-year-old Howells stated that she really enjoyed the encounter.

“I absolutely loved that semi-final,’’ Howells said. “I've played Eilidh before, we've had some fantastic matches so I was really hoping for a good match and I loved it.

“I was always trailing but in my mind I was determined not to give up. I was going to fight till the very last point no matter what.”