Tenant Takes Final Place In Oslo

French qualifier Romain Tenant continued his giant-killing run in the Grays Oslo Open by surviving a tough 72-minute semi-final against eighth-seeded compatriot Yann Perrin to reach the final of this new PSA Tour event at the Myrens Sportssenter in the Norwegian capital.

The similar giant-killing exploits of South African qualifier Tenille Swartz in the women's WISPA World Tour event were brought to an end by Welsh international Tegwen Malik in another lengthy five-game encounter.

Tenant, a 25-year-old ranked outside the world's top 150, made his breakthrough in the first Tour event in Norway this millennium when he despatched Egypt's third seed Amr Ramzy Swelim in the first round.

In the semi-final, he fought back from 2/0 down to overpower Perrin 8-11, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 to reach his second PSA final.

The Frenchman's opponent in the climax will be Hungary's second seed Mark Krajcsak, the 22-year-old from Budapest who beat fourth seed Jan Koukal, from the Czech Republic, 8-11, 11-10 (3-1), 9-11, 11-6, 11-0 in 76 minutes. Krajcsak is celebrating his third PSA Tour final, and looking for his maiden win.

On the day that she leapt 77 up the WISPA world rankings to make her debut in the top 60, Tenille Swartz came to the end of her fourth impressive Tour run in a row. Malik was too strong for the 19-year-old South African, but had to fight back from 2/0 down to beat her plucky opponent 3-9, 3-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-7 in 48 minutes.

The 31-year-old from Swansea, in her sixth WISPA final, will face favourite Shelley Kitchen. The New Zealander overcame an out-of-sorts Lauren Briggs after a game and a half when the No3 seed from England conceded the match with the score standing at 9-0, 4-0. The New Zealand champion is celebrating her 12th WISPA final.

Men's semi-finals:
[Q] Romain Tenant (FRA) bt [8] Yann Perrin (FRA) 8-11, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (72m)
[2] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt [4] Jan Koukal (CZE) 8-11, 11-10 (3-1), 9-11, 11-6, 11-0 (76m)

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [3] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-0, 4-0 ret.
[4] Tegwen Malik (WAL) bt [Q] Tenille Swartz (RSA) 3-9, 3-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-7 (48m)