Koukal Repeats Open Success In Prague

Eight months after upsetting the top-seeded Englishman in the final of the Czech Open, local star Jan Koukal repeated his victory over Peter Genever in the quarter-finals of the $10,000 Czech Classic to reach the semi-finals of the new PSA Tour event in the country's capital city.

Now ranked 42 in the world and seeded above Genever, the 21-year-old third seed swept to an 11-8 11-7 11-1 victory in just 23 minutes to set up a meeting with another Englishman.

Jonathan Kemp, the No2 seed from England, overcame a tie-break loss in the first game of his quarter-final to beat Switzerland's eighth seed Lars Harms 10-11 11-3 11-8 11-5 in 41 minutes.

The other semi-final will be an unexpected clash between England's Alex Stait and Australia's Raj Nanda. Stait, the fifth seed from Gloucester, lost the first game against top seed Renan Lavigne, but then stormed to an impressive 9-11 11-6 11-6 11-6 upset in 36 minutes to reserve a place in the last four.

Seventh seed Nanda, however, put paid to an all-Gloucester clash when he upset the fourth-seeded Alister Walker 11-10 11-10 11-8 in 37 minutes in the other quarter-final in the top half of the draw.

Quarter-finals:
[5] Alex Stait (ENG) bt [1] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (36m)
[7] Raj Nanda (AUS) bt [4] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0), 11-8 (37m)
[3] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [6] Peter Genever (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-1 (23m)
[2] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [8] Lars Harms (SUI) 10-11 (1-3), 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (41m)