Laura Leaps Into Cleveland Semis

Laura Lengthorn-Massaro ensured surprise English interest in both semi-finals of the Women's National City Burning River Classic after upsetting Egypt's fourth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy in the quarter-finals of the $39,000 WISPA World Tour squash event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Pepper Pike in the US state of Ohio.

The 25-year-old world No8 from Lancashire battled for four games to topple Abdel Kawy, ranked one place higher in the world list, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4.

Lengthorn-Massaro, the fifth seed, will now face US star Natalie Grainger for a place in the final. Second seed Grainger - twice winner of the event, in 2007 and 2008 - secured her tenth successive win in the Cleveland championship by beating Rebecca Chiu, the No7 seed from Hong Kong, 11-2, 11-8, 11-8.

"Natalie took early leads in every game and never really looked threatened throughout the match despite some determined retrieving from the 2002 Asian Games gold medallist," said tournament organiser Nathan Dugan.

Alison Waters will carry English hopes into the other semi-final: The third seed from London ended Jaclyn Hawkes's run in the event when she beat the unseeded New Zealander 11-6, 11-8, 13-11.

Waters will take on top-seeded Australian Rachael Grinham, a straight games winner over surprise opponent Tania Bailey. The unseeded English player was unable to reproduce the form which saw her upset Ireland's sixth seed Madeline Perry 24 hours earlier, and went down 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 to the former world number one from Queensland.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Tania Bailey (ENG) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8
[3] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 11-6, 11-8, 13-11
[5] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) bt [4] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [7] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 11-2, 11-8, 11-8