Top Seeds Tumble In Turin

The top two seeds Alex Stait and Amr Ramzy Swelim crashed out of the 8 Gallery Open after losing in the semi-finals of the new PSA Tour event at the 8 Gallery Shopping Mall in the Italian city of Turin.

Lee Drew avenged two previous PSA Tour losses to Alex Stait when he upset his fellow English compatriot, the No1 seed, 11-4, 2-11, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1) in 49 minutes to reach his second successive Tour final against the odds.

The 30-year-old from Colchester is the third seed in Turin - but in last month's Wolverhampton Open on home soil, Drew made it to the final as a qualifier!

In the fifth PSA final of his career, the Essex man will now face Frenchman Julien Balbo, the fourth seed who upset Egypt's No2 seed Amr Ramzy Swelim 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 in the other semi.

Balbo, the French national champion in 1998, secured his first PSA Tour final appearance in the Ciutat de Barcelona Open in Spain in September. Now celebrating his second, the 27-year-old from Grenoble is looking for his maiden Tour title success.

Semi-finals:
[3] Lee Drew (ENG) bt [1] Alex Stait (ENG) 11-4, 2-11, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1) (49m)
[4] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [2] Amr Ramzy Swelim (EGY) 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 (54m)