Duncalf Hopes Dashed In Mexican City

Pakistan's Carla Khan upset the form book in the quarter-finals of the Women's Sports World Mexican Open Championship when she triumphed in five games over England's second seed Jenny Duncalf in Mexico City.

English-born Khan fought back from a game down against her higher-ranked opponent to take a 2/1 lead. But Duncalf, the world No12 from Yorkshire who has just been selected to make her England debut in this month's World Team Championships in Amsterdam, reasserted her authority on the match to draw level.

In the closely-contested decider, sixth seed Khan edged ahead to claim her notable 4-9 9-4 9-6 3-9 9-7 victory - and a place in the semi-finals against seventh seed Annelize Naude, who also scored an upset over an English player when she beat third-seeded Stephanie Brind 8-10 9-6 10-8 9-7.

The other semi-final will be the encounter predicted by the seedings, when top seed Vanessa Atkinson takes on Scotland's fourth seed Pamela Nimmo. Atkinson, the world No3 from the Netherlands, beat fifth seed Latasha Khan, of the USA, 9-6 9-7 9-5, while Nimmo needed four games to overcome Egypt's eighth seed Engy Kheirallah 9-6 9-4 5-9 9-1.