Top Seeds Sail Into Hungarian Open Semis

Australian favourite Anthony Ricketts led the four top seeds into the semi-finals of the Hungarian Open after beating Italy's Davide Bianchetti in the quarter-finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event in Budapest.

Showing no signs of the elbow injury which has hampered his recent progress on the PSA Tour, Ricketts despatched the eighth-seeded Italian 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 in 36 minutes.

The world No5 from Sydney, who has recently relocated to Pontefract in England, will now meet his new club-mate Lee Beachill for a place in the final. Yorkshireman Beachill, the third seed, beat fellow Englishman Joey Barrington, the No7 seed, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 in 46 minutes.

The other semi-final will see Frenchman Gregory Gaultier aiming to reach the final for the third year in a row. The No2 seed from Aix-en-Provence beat English qualifier Alister Walker 11-2, 11-0, 11-8.

Gaultier's opponent will be Olli Tuominen, the fourth seed from Finland who needed four games to overcome England's unseeded Simon Parke, winning 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 in 54 minutes.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v [3] Lee Beachill (ENG)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [4] Olli Tuominen (FIN)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [8] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 (36m)
[3] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [7] Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (46m)
[4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (54m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-2, 11-0, 11-8 (35m)