Simpson & Castagnet Burst Into Semi-Finals On Historic Day In Tilburg

Former European junior rivals Chris Simpson, of England, and Mathieu Castagnet, from France, have claimed unexpected places in the semi-finals of the Altipower Tilburg Open after quarter-final upsets over two of the top four seeds in a historic day for the new PSA Tour event in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Seventh seed Simpson, the 2005 European Junior Champion and reigning British Junior champion from Guernsey, brushed aside Australia's No2 seed Bradley Hindle 11-7, 11-7, 11-9.

The Yorkshire-based 19-year-old will now face Castagnet for a place in his first PSA Tour final. Eighth seed Castagnet, runner-up in the 2004 European Junior Championships, beat England's fourth seed Chris Ryder 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6. The 19-year-old from Le Mans is also one place away from his first Tour final.

The other Tilburg semi-final will be an all-English affair between top seed Scott Handley, from Oxfordshire, and third seed Sam Miller, from Warwickshire.

**** PSA Tour history was made this weekend in the Netherlands - remarkably, not once, but twice in quick succession! Not since September 2004, when the PSA introduced its new scoring system (point-a-rally to 11 points per game, plus tie-breaks from 10-10) has a match ended with tie-breaks in all of its games.

However, in the first round of the Tilburg Open, Mathieu Castagnet beat Dutchman Tom Hoevenaars in straight games 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (4-2), 11-10 (2-0) - then Australia's Luke Margan took four games to defeat Dutch qualifier Lucas Buit 10-11 (0-2), 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1)!

Quarter-finals:
[1] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [Q] Michael Fiteni (MLT) 11-6, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4
[3] Sam Miller (ENG) bt [5] Luke Margan (AUS) 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-7
[8] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [4] Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6
[7] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [2] Bradley Hindle (AUS) 11-7, 11-7, 11-9