After Scott Barron, the holder, and Owen Casey had secured their final places and set the scene for a repeat of last year's final, top seed Gina Niland was forced out of the women's competition by illness when trailing 2-5 to Cork youngster Elsa O'Rian at the penultimate stage of the Irish Open Indoor Championships at Riverview yesterday.

The Irish Fed Cup player was thought to have suffered an asthmatic attack during the change of ends and was taken to hospital. O'Rian now faces Anne Marie Hogan in her first senior open final today.

Sean Cooper and David Mullins, two young players on the periphery of Davis Cup selection, would have needed to possess a little more guile to master the seasoned Casey and Barron. However, it was patently obvious that the two youngsters are now closer than ever before to making breakthroughs.

Cooper blamed his out-of-groove serve for his failure against Barron. His second serve is one the best in the Irish game, but, he said, "it's only a back-up. When my first serve goes, I am in real trouble". Barron, a 25-year-old full-time player, claimed he was never worried at any stage of the match and significantly broke Cooper three times in the second set to close the match down 6-1. As the only Irish player to beat Casey since 1988, Barron welcomes the chance of another meeting in the final.

Casey, after taking over an hour to shake off the challenge of Mullins, said: "Revenge for last year would be too strong a word, but I am out to avenge that defeat and will be very much up for it".

Casey would not admit to being worried when he trailed Mullins 3-5 in the second set and when later he was asked to save a set point in a deuce 10th game. He pocketed that vital 10th game and the following two for the match to end a 44-minute second set.

Mullins has got to be deemed the "find" of the tournament. He had already accounted for top seed Peter Clarke in that controversial quarter-final and is closest, of the younger set, to toppling the "establishment".