Phillips Forges On In Ottawa

After all four qualifiers survived the first round of the Goodlife Open in Canada, local hero David Phillips maintained his momentum by beating fellow qualifier Scott Arnold to reach the semi-finals of the PSA Tour event at the Goodlife Fitness Club in Ottawa.

Phillips, from Montreal, triumphed 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 over the Australian - and will now face Mexico's second seed Eric Galvez for a place in his first Tour final.

Galvez prevailed 11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (2-0), 11-4 over his South American rival Bernardo Samper, the No7 seed from Colombia.

Undoubtedly the match of the night was between Shawn Delierre and hometown boy Robin Clarke. Robin looked nervous in the first game, being very tentative with his drops - resulting in him clipping the tin on numerous occasions to give favourite Delierre the first game.

In the second, Clarke settled into his game, playing patiently waiting for his opportunity to take the ball in short which paid off, resulting in him levelling the match. The third game saw Delierre take advantage of loose play by the Ottawa qualifier, hitting some great winners to take a 2/1 lead.

In the fourth game, spurred on by the home crowd, Clarke took a 9-6 lead. Delierre played some great attacking squash to pull level. Both players traded winners from that point on, the favourite finally taking the match 11-5, 9-11, 11-3, 11-10 (6-4) after 71 minutes.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [Q] Robin Clarke (CAN) 11-5, 9-11, 11-3, 11-10 (6-4) (71m)
[4] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (27m)
[Q] David Phillips (CAN) bt [Q] Scott Arnold (AUS) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (50m)
[2] Eric Galvez (MEX) bt [7] Bernardo Samper (COL) 11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (2-0), 11-4 (37m)