Willstrop Wiped Out By Devilish Darwish

Hopes of an English finalist from the bottom half of the Liverpool 08 Open draw were dashed today when Egypt's Karim Darwish upset second-seeded Yorkshireman James Willstrop at St George's Hall in the heart of Merseyside.

Darwish, the No8 seed, was in devastating form as he defeated the lacklustre England number one 11-10 (2-0), 11-3, 11-8 in 43 minutes - later declaring it to be "one of my best ever performances."

A surprisingly relaxed Willstrop afterwards conceded that he simply wasn't able to make enough impression on the encounter. "I can't really explain it, I'm not unhappy with my game, but I just wasn't right mentally.

"Karim outlasted me and demoralised me - he was just too good," said the 22-year-old from Pontefract who celebrated a career-high world No2 ranking last December.

Darwish was delighted with his approach to the match: "I always feel I struggle with James, but today I was really focussed on winning.

"I was pretty confident, my shots were great and I felt I was controlling the match," said the 24-year-old from Cairo who last week won the Egyptian national title for the second time.

Darwish will meet Thierry Lincou in Saturday's first semi-final after the third-seeded Frenchman gained revenge for his unexpected defeat by Gregory Gaultier in the French National Championship final in February by beating his fellow countryman in the day's opening match.

But it wasn't achieved in the style he would have liked, as Gaultier - after taking the second game to draw level with his higher-ranked French team-mate - fell awkwardly in the first rally of the fourth game and badly twisted his ankle.

After an 11-minute injury break, it was clear that the 23-year-old No7 seed was not going to be able to carry on - and duly conceded the match 11-5, 4-11, 11-3, 0-0 (ret.) to Lincou after 66 minutes.

Olli Tuominen, the Finn who caused the tournament's first upset when he beat Scotland's sixth seed John White in the previous round, was unable to produce the same giant-killing display in the quarter-finals against top seed David Palmer.

After losing the first game, the ninth seed from Helsinki fought back from 5-8 down in the second to lead 9-8, then had the first game ball in the tie-break. But Palmer ultimately clinched the game to go 2/0 up, then ran away from 7-all in the third to take the match 11-6, 11-10 (4-2), 11-7 in 44 minutes.

It was sweet revenge for the 29-year-old Australian from Lithgow in New South Wales who suffered a shock defeat to the Finn in their last meeting, in the first round of the English Open in August 2005.

The final match of the day saw a significant renaissance for fifth seed Lee Beachill who beat his England team-mate and fellow Yorkshireman Nick Matthew in a decisive straight games encounter.

Beachill, the three-times British National champion from Pontefract who lost his title to Matthew in February in his record sixth successive appearance in the final, has suffered mixed fortunes over the past year - a fact cruelly marked by a drop to 11 in the world rankings this month, his first absence from the top ten for four years.

"But even when I walked on court, I was so confident about winning," said the 28-year-old after his 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 triumph over fifth seed Matthew in 39 minutes, the shortest quarter-final of the day.

"I seemed to just get out of the habit of winning over the last year or so, but tonight I played some really good squash - pushing Nick hard, then capitalising on his errors," said a buoyant Beachill.

"If I continue to play like that, I feel I can beat anyone in the world."

A despondent Matthew admitted that he was almost embarrassed by the way he played in parts of the game: "I felt as if I hardly broke sweat," said the 25-year-old who is four positions higher than his opponent in the world order.

"He's clearly got his appetite back - but I really wanted to go out on a high in the last ranking event of the season, but Lee just didn't let me. If you want to be the best in the world, you can't afford to play like that," conceded Matthew.

Beachill will face Palmer in Saturday's second semi-final at 6.00pm - which will be broadcast live on Sky TV.

Quarter-finals:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [9] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-6, 11-10 (4-2), 11-7 (44m)
[5] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [4] Nick Matthew (ENG) 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (39m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-5, 4-11, 11-3, 0-0 ret. (66m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [2] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-3, 11-8 (43m)