Smooth Ride For Seeds At Vassar College

In the quarter-finals of the Women's Vassar College Class of 1932 Open in Poughkeepsie in the US state of New York, English qualifier Lauren Briggs was unable to reproduce the form which saw her despatch US favourite Natalie Grainger in the opening round.

New Zealand's fifth seed Shelley Kitchen was too strong for the 26-year-old from London, winning 9-1, 9-5, 9-1 to set up the second meeting with England's Laura-Jane Lengthorn in a week.

Kitchen, the bronze medallist in the women's singles event at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, upset her higher-seeded opponent in the Texas Open in Houston - and is again seeded below Lengthorn in Poughkeepsie.

The 22-year-old from Lancashire beat Hong Kong's No7 seed Rebecca Chiu 9-5, 10-8, 9-4.

The other semi-final will also have English interest when Tania Bailey takes on Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy. Bailey, the No2 seed, brushed aside Scotland's Pamela Nimmo 9-6, 9-4, 9-2, while third seed Kawy recovered from a game down to defeat France's eighth seed Isabelle Stoehr 8-10, 9-2, 9-2, 9-7.

Quarter-finals:
[5] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [Q] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-1, 9-5, 9-1
[4] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) bt [7] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-5, 10-8, 9-4
[3] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [8] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 8-10, 9-2, 9-2, 9-7
[2] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Pamela Nimmo (SCO) 9-6, 9-4, 9-2