Abdel Aziz Shocks Ashour In Mikkeli

Seventh seed Omar Abdel Aziz stunned Egyptian compatriot Hisham Mohd Ashour, the third seed, in straight games in the quarter-finals of the Savcor Finnish Open to reach the last four of the established $25,000 PSA Tour squash event at Mikkeli Squash Club in Mikkeli, Finland.

The 25-year-old from Cairo never let his opponent into the match, winning 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 to set up a surprise semi against top seed Stewart Boswell.

The 30-year-old from Canberra, bidding to become the first Australian to win the title since Rodney Eyles in 1991, beat last year's runner-up Davide Bianchetti. Boswell led throughout, keeping the ball to a good length and controlling the pace before winning 11-6, 11-7, 11-9.

The much-awaited match between Omar Mosaad and Mohamed El Shorbagy - Egyptians seeded four and five, respectively - proved to be as exiting as expected. The first three games were as even as can be, and 18-year-old Shorbagy took two of them. In the fourth, the more experienced 20-year-old Mosaad was at his strongest and gave away only one point.

The fourth seed's dominance continued in the fifth game, but El Shorbagy staged a late fight back to move from 3-7 down, to lead 8-7.

But fortunes changed and Mosaad took the next four points to win the match 11-13, 11-8, 10-12, 11-1, 11-8 after 76 minutes.

Mosaad will face local hero Olli Tuominen, the second seed and defending champion from Helsinki who beat Hungarian Mark Krajcsak 11-1, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4.

Mosaad knows he has a tough challenge ahead: "Olli is very strong and I have had two hard five games matches," said the 20-year-old.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [6] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (64m)
[7] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt [3] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (44m)
[4] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [5] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) 11-13, 11-8, 10-12, 11-1, 11-8 (76m)
[2] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [8] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 11-1, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4 (34m)