Lincou Licks Willstrop In Kuwait Upset

Sixth seed Thierry Lincou set up a second Franco/Egyptian Kuwait Open semi-final when he upset England's fourth seed James Willstrop in the quarter-finals of the $200,000 PSA Super Series Platinum championship - the richest squash event of the year to date - at the KSF Squash Complex in Kuwait City.

Willstrop, the British National champion from Yorkshire, arrived in Kuwait as the Tour's in-form player, with title successes in his last three events - the Swedish Open, the Davenport Pro Championship and the Canary Wharf Classic.

The 24-year-old world No4 looked to be coasting to his 16th successive Tour win as he took the first two games against Frenchman Lincou.

But the world No7 from Marseille mounted a sensational comeback, winning 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 in 70 minutes

"I'm over the moon - over the moon because I made this effort myself," explained Lincou, the former world number one now in his first Super Series semi-final since last November. "I came on court to do well, but not to win, and it showed. I was playing well every other rally. So this victory is before and foremost a victory on myself.

"He surprised me by his start - he was playing the ball so early, he was totally outplaying me. And then, I starting increasing my pressure, and he had a drop of energy, and the graph reversed," added the 32-year-old.

"It's hard when you pass 30 - you get through a tough motivational period, but now, it looks like I'm getting a second wind."

Willstrop agreed that the match turned completely in the third game: "I felt in complete control for two games, but he's such a great competitor. It's testimony to the guy: you don't get to be world champion and world number one for no reason," said the Englishman.

Lincou will face second seed Ramy Ashour for a place in the final after the 20-year-old world number two from Egypt battled to an 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4 victory over England's 10th seed Lee Beachill in 53 minutes.

"We always have tough five-setters together," said Ashour. "How can he be ten years older than me and still be that good?"

Beachill, who upset Australia's two-time world champion David Palmer to reach a surprise quarter-final, was pleased with his performance: "I think that my level went up a bit during this event. I played pretty well, apart from a bad start in the fourth and fifth - and when Ramy gets two points lead, he is very hard to stop - he gets in a sort of momentum. But you've got to give him credit; he came from just clipping the tin a few times to getting the nick every shot."

The other semi-final will feature Amr Shabana, the top seed from Egypt, and France's third seed Gregory Gaultier. World number one Shabana survived a close clash with Ong Beng Hee, beating the 14th seed from Malaysia 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0).

Gaultier also prevailed in straight games, defeating Egypt's seventh seed Karim Darwish 11-9, 11-9, 11-10 (5-3).

Quarter-finals:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [14] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0) (43m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [7] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 11-10 (5-3) (54m)
[6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG) 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (70m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [10] Lee Beachill (ENG) 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4 (53m)