Abdel Kawy Ditches Duncalf To Make World Games Semis

Egypt's Omneya Abdel Kawy caused the only upset in today's quarter-finals of the World Games Squash championships when she beat England's third seed Jenny Duncalf to earn an unexpected place in the semi-finals of the women's competition at the Chung Cheng Martial Arts Stadium in the Chinese Taipei city of Kaohsiung.

Staged under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games is the eighth edition of the multi-sport event which features sports not currently on the programme of the Olympic Games - in which over 4,000 athletes are competing in more than 30 sports.

The fifth seed from Cairo, ranked two places below world No5 Duncalf, has long been the English player's nemesis: After taking the first game, Duncalf led 10-3 in the second and 8-2 in the third - with a total of 11 game balls across both games - but was unable to convert either.

Abdel Kawy's 6-11, 13-11, 14-12, 11-8 victory in 46 minutes marked her seventh successive win over Duncalf since September 2005.

The 23-year-old Egyptian will now meet top seed Nicol David of Malaysia, who celebrated her third complete year as world No1 this month. Title-holder David coasted past unseeded Joey Chan of Hong Kong 11-2, 11-3, 11-3, and is on course to make history by becoming the first player to successfully defend a World Games Squash title.

But Australian-born Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands - the tournament's second seed, who reached the semi-finals with an 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 win over Australia's Kasey Brown - was not conceding anything though she refused to look ahead.

"I don't really predict stuff," she said when asked about a possible gold medal confrontation with David. "All the players here are really good," added the 31-year-old world number three who claimed a record three gold medals in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Grinham says that with the calibre of players participating, the World Games tournament has every bit the feel of a tour event, with one big difference: "Here I'm representing Holland," said the recent Dutch national - who also described the World Games as being "as significant as other major tournaments".

Grinham believes anything can happen, even against the world No1, but she was more focused on her upcoming semi-final match against fourth-seeded Alison Waters of Great Britain. The 25-year-old from London reached the semis by defeating Samantha Teran of Mexico 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.

England's Alison Waters, making her debut in the World Games and also making her first appearances in a 'Great Britain' shirt, commented: "It feels good to be part of an event like this and to see other athletes from other sports and countries. We have watched fistball, which was good fun, and we have racquetball and billiards in the same centre as the Squash.

"Our thoughts are focussed on Squash's bid to get into the Olympic Games," added Waters. "Playing in an event like this, and having played at the Commonwealths, it would be so special to have Squash in the Olympics! Fingers crossed in a few weeks time!"

In the men's tournament, top seed and world No5 Nick Matthew of Great Britain fought past Saurav Ghosal of India 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6 in 61 minutes - the longest of the four quarter-finals.

Third seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar also advanced to the semis with an 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 win over Cameron Pilley of Australia.

Iskandar, ranked 13 in the world, said he felt the World Games tournament offered more than the typical tour event. "The big difference is that you can see many different sports being played here," said the 27-year-old Malaysian. "It is still a major world event after all."

In the other quarter-finals, Stewart Boswell of Australia topped Julien Balbo of France and while second seed James Willstrop of Great Britain survived in four games over Omar Mosaad of Egypt.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman, a former world number two, is in competitive action for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery in April - and was forced to save game balls in both the second and fourth games before prevailing 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 12-10 in 54 minutes.

Men's quarter-finals:
[1] Nick Matthew (GBR) bt [8] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6 (61m)
[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [6] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (44m)
[5] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [13] Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 (43m)
[2] James Willstrop (GBR) bt [7] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 12-10 (54m)

Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (20m)
[5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [3] Jenny Duncalf (GBR) 6-11, 13-11, 14-12, 11-8 (46m)
[4] Alison Waters (GBR) bt [11] Samantha Teran (MEX) 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (36m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [9] Kasey Brown (AUS) 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 (25m)