El Hindi Beats Beachill In Doha

Egyptian Wael El Hindi celebrated his second appearance in the semi-finals of a PSA Super Series event this year when he upset England's eighth seed Lee Beachill in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Classic at the Khalifa Squash Complex in Doha.

The 26-year-old No10 seed from Giza, who also exceeded his seeding in last week's Kuwait Open to reach the quarter-finals, battled for 80 minutes to overcome the former world number one-ranked Yorkshireman 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-4.

"I'm really happy about my form this last two weeks, and hopefully I've done enough to get into the top ten," El Hindi, the world No14, told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "I'm looking forward to the next match, I think the tournament's open for anyone to win now!"

El Hindi, who has steadily climbed up the world top twenty rankings since moving to England to work with squash legend Jonah Barrington, faces Australia's World Open champion David Palmer for a place in the final.

The second seed from Lithgow in New South Wales beat Egypt's No7 seed Karim Darwish 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 to reach his fourth semi-final berth on the PSA Tour this year.

Egyptian interest will be featured in the other semi-final where Kuwait Open champion Ramy Ashour meets England's British Open champion Nick Matthew. Third seed Ashour, the 19-year-old from Cairo who is currently creating major waves in the squash world, took only 31 minutes to quash British National Champion James Willstrop, the sixth seed from England, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7.

Fifth seed Matthew had a tougher battle on his hands getting the better of Peter Barker - his England team-mate who caused the Super Series Platinum event's biggest shock in the previous round when he ousted top seed and world number one Amr Shabana.

Matthew eventually prevailed 9-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-9, 11-9 to end the 14th seed's impressive run in the event.

"He was full of confidence after yesterday, and it was very close apart from the very start where I got a few points ahead by keeping it to the back, but once he started taking it in short he was very good," said Matthew of his compatriot.

"Physically I'm feeling good, but I'll have to raise my form a lot if I want to do well tomorrow."

There were no surprises in the women's WISPA World Tour Gold quarter-finals - though only favourite Nicol David will be judged to have had a straightforward win after dismissing Egypt's No7 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy 9-1, 9-0, 9-3 in 22 minutes.

The 23-year-old world number one from Penang, who is expected to win her tenth international title in a row in Doha, now faces England's fourth seed Tania Bailey - to whom she has never lost in four meetings since December 2005.

Bailey recovered from a game down to beat England team-mate Vicky Botwright, the No5 seed, 7-9, 9-3, 9-5, 9-1 in 67 minutes.

The other women's semi-final will re-enact the sibling rivalry between the "Toowoomba twosome" Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham. Older sister Rachael, the third seed, overcame USA's sixth seed Natalie Grainger 9-7, 9-7, 10-8 while second seed Natalie needed 55 minutes to overcome eighth seed Vanessa Atkinson, a former world number one from the Netherlands, 9-2, 9-0, 8-10, 9-4.

"I won the first two so easily, then I changed my game plan, and so did she," said the younger Grinham, who is based in the Netherlands. "I tried to play winners rather than just prolonging the rallies. She tightened up and her shots started going in. The beginning of the fourth was crucial, I had to be sure to get my focus back for that, I knew I'd be the fresher of us going into it.

"I'm more confident to play long matches these days, coming to a tournament and playing a series of five-setters is nothing compared to what my fitness trainer puts me through back in Holland!"

Men's quarter-finals:
[5] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [14] Peter Barker (ENG) 9-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-9, 11-9 (72m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [6] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-4, 11-7, 11-7 (31m)
[10] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [8] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-4 (80m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [7] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (47m)

Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-1, 9-0, 9-3 (22m)
[4] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [5] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 7-9, 9-3, 9-5, 9-1 (67m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [6] Natalie Grainger (USA) 9-7, 9-7, 10-8 (45m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 9-2, 9-0, 8-10, 9-4 (55m)