Serme In Semi After Chopping Grinham In Chennai

Rising French star Camille Serme is celebrating her first appearance in the semi-finals of a WISPA World Tour Gold event after upsetting third seed Rachael Grinham, the former world number one from Australia, in today's quarter-finals of the $53,500 Chennai Open at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, India.

The 20-year-old from Creteil recovered from a game down to beat Grinham, the world No4, 4-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-3 in 40 minutes - thereby notching up her biggest scalp on the Tour.

Serme, now the French number one who boasts a career-high world ranking of 11, next meets England's Jenny Duncalf for a place in the final.

Duncalf, the world No3 from Harrogate, took 43 minutes to resist a spirited attack from England team-mate Laura Massaro, ultimately beating the fifth seed 12-10, 11-9, 11-9.

The other women's semi-final will see event favourite Nicol David line up against Kasey Brown, the No7 seed from Australia.

Nicol David, the world number one from Malaysia who is making her 2010 Tour debut in Chennai, trailed 2-6 in the third game against Mexican opponent Samantha Teran, but raised her game to beat the eighth seed 11-9, 11-4, 12-10.

The match between Brown and unseeded New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes turned out to be a closely-contested encounter until the fourth game when the Aussie, ranked seven places higher than the Kiwi, managed to improve from a 4-1 situation to win the match 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4 after 69 minutes.

Indian hopes are alive and well in the men's $25,000 PSA World Tour event where fourth seed Saurav Ghosal, playing in his home city, beat England's No6 seed Chris Simpson 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7 in 64 minutes.

"The 23-year-old world No29 was looking to achieve a straight forward 3/0 win," said event spokesman Cyrus Poncha. "And - except in the third game, where Simpson managed to get into the game right from beginning, coming up with winners after rallies to match point for point - Ghosal led throughout in the remaining three games.

"The third game was evenly matched and the rivals were stuck at 9-9 for sometime before Ghosal broke the ice leading 10-9 and perhaps was managing to stay in the court despite pain on his back. Here, Simpson made it 11-10 with a boast from the back and then claimed the remaining two points for the game."

Ghosal will now face Jonathan Kemp, the second seed who ended English compatriot Laurence Delasaux's run by beating the unseeded 24-year-old 11-9, 11-4, 11-7.

Top seed Ong Beng Hee defeated Yann Perrin, the No7 seed from France, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 in 41 minutes to set up a meeting in the other semi-final with Mohd Ali Anwar Reda. The third seed from Egypt dropped the first game against eighth seed Alan Clyne but went on to beat the Scot 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in 61 minutes.

Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [8] Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-9, 11-4, 12-10 (28m)
[7] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4 (69m)
[6] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 4-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-3 (40m)
[2] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [5] Laura Massaro (ENG) 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 (43m)

Men's quarter-finals:
[1] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [7] Yann Perrin (FRA) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (41m)
[3] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [8] Alan Clyne (SCO) 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (61m)
[4] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [6] Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7 (64m)
[2] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Laurence Delasaux (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (31m)