Beachill Bounds Through To Semi-finals At Sportcity

Top seed Lee Beachill, the world No2 from Yorkshire, coasted into the last four of the British National Championships in Manchester today after a straight games victory over Welsh champion Alex Gough, the No8 seed, on the all-glass court at the National Squash Centre at Sportcity.

After a close first game, the 27-year-old from Pontefract led throughout the second - and after Gough fought back to take a brief 5-2 lead in the third, Beachill stormed through in a single hand to wrap up his 11-9 11-5 11-5 victory in 41 minutes.

"That game was pretty good," conceded the twice champion who is seeded to reach his fifth successive final. "I got the ball passed him from the world go and got him tired, but winning 3-0 is always a bonus.

"It's unusual for me to be the top seed - and frankly I don't like that. There's a pressure that I haven't experienced before, but I'm coming to terms with that and just concentrating on playing well," added the favourite.

"I'm really excited - I love the Nationals, it's one of my favourite events."

In the later men's quarter-final, Yorkshire's fourth seed Nick Matthew reaped revenge for his defeat by Adrian Grant at the same stage in the event last year when he beat the sixth seed from Kent 11-5 11-10 11-4 in 54 minutes.

The 24-year-old from Sheffield will take on Beachill in an all-Yorkshire semi-final on Saturday.

Linda Elriani, the favourite in the women's event, dropped just a single point as she despatched unseeded Dominique Lloyd-Walter to reach the semi-finals for the fourth year in a row.

After upsetting fifth seed Fiona Geaves in the previous round, 23-year-old Lloyd-Walter, from Harrow in Middlesex, conceded that this was a 'make-or-break year' for her.

But Elriani, the 33-year-old world No5 from Eastbourne in Sussex, crushed her unexpected opponent 9-0 9-0 9-1 in 25 minutes.

"Dominique played well - I saw her playing against Fiona yesterday. She didn't belt it, she got in early and hung in there - it was a good performance," said the former Miss Charman, now married to French international Laurent Elriani.

"But I've been training hard over the past month, working with Laurent, and am enjoying my squash more than ever. But even though I'm top seed, I'm not looking further than the next round and giving each opponent the respect they deserve," added the champion-in-waiting.

Earlier, in an all-Yorkshire clash, third seed Jenny Tranfield fought back from a game down to beat Jenny Duncalf, the sixth seed, 8-10 9-6 9-1 9-0 in 53 minutes to reach her second semi-final - where she will face Elriani.

Men's quarter-finals:
[1] Lee Beachill (Yorks) bt [8] Alex Gough (Wales) 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (41m)
[4] Nick Matthew (Yorks) bt [6] Adrian Grant (Kent) 11-5, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4 (54m)

Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Linda Elriani (Sussex) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Middx) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1 (25m)
[3] Jenny Tranfield (Yorks) bt [6] Jenny Duncalf (Yorks) 8-10, 9-6, 9-1, 9-0 (53m)