Ashour earned his place in the men’s showdown after coming through a spectacular 74-minute encounter against world champion Grégory Gaultier of France.

The 2013 tournament winner, who was making his first appearance in four months after a hamstring injury sustained at the World Championships in Seattle, looked to have conceded the initiative after allowing a two-game lead slip through his grasp.

He recovered though from five points down in the fifth to take an 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7 victory.

"I was thinking about losing the match in the fifth," said Ashour.

"At the same time, you’re playing the world champion.

"It’s a mental battle, not just physical.

"There’s no words to describe how I’m feeling.

"It was very dreamy for me just to be back."

Awaiting Ashour in the final is defending champion Mohamed Elshorbagy, who eased to an 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 success against compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad.

The world number one dominated the 44-minute contest, giving Gawad very little chance to attack with a series of punishing drives keeping his younger opponent rooted to the back of the court.

The final will be a repeat of the 2014 World Championship showdown, a match widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time.

Elshorbagy is 7-1 down on the head-to-head record between the two.

The women’s final will be a battle between the two youngest finalists in British Open history with 18-year-old world junior champion Gohar set to meet El Sherbini, who was just 16 years of age when she reached the 2012 final.

Gohar played with pace and precision against last year’s winner Camille Serme of France to surge into a two-game advantage.

Serme fought back to ensure parity, but it was Gohar who edged a nail-biting fifth game to complete a 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9 victory and reach her first-ever PSA World Series final.

She could become the youngest-ever women’s winner just two months after triumphing in the junior edition of the tournament.

"It’s amazing, it’s a very good thing, it’s my biggest achievement so far being in the British Open final," she said.

"I was in the British Open junior final just a few months ago and now I’m in the final of the senior tournament.

"Being in the final of the most prestigious tournament of the year is an unbelievable achievement.

"I’ve been playing lots of tournaments, lots of matches so it has given me experience and helped me improve my game."

El Sherbini defeated five-time winner Nicol David of Malaysia with an 11-6, 2-11, 11-9, 11-6 scoreline. 

The last time a single nation provided all four finalists at the British Open was in 1977, when Australia achieved the feat.

The finals are due to take place tomorrow.