Golan Marches Into La Ciotat Semis

Spain's Borja Golan maintained his confident run in the La Ciotat International Open by beating fellow qualifier Fabien Verseille in straight games to reach the semi-finals of the $10,000 PSA World Tour squash event in its first year at La Ciotat Squash Club in the French city of La Ciotat.

The top-ranked Spaniard is making his comeback after major knee surgery - since when he has seen his world ranking slump to 95 just seven months after holding the No10 slot.

But the 27-year-old from Santiago DC showed signs of his former form as he despatched Frenchman Verseille 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 in 31 minutes in the only straight games win of the day.

Golan will have a tougher battle ahead of him as he takes on second seed Alan Clyne for a place in the final.

Fresh from his title triumph in last week's Kent Open in England, Scot Clyne overcame sixth-seeded Malaysian Ivan Yuen 11-6, 2-11, 11-7, 11-7 to set up a first-time Tour clash with the highest-ranked Spaniard of all-time.

Yann Perrin single-handedly carries domestic interest through to the semi-finals of this inaugural Tour event in La Ciotat after surviving a hard-fought five-game clash with Hong Kong's Max Lee. The fourth seed from Aix-en-Provence beat fifth seed Lee 3-11, 11-5, 13-11, 3-11, 11-3 in one minute just short of an hour.

It will be an all-Aix battle in the semi-finals as Perrin takes on Stephane Galifi, the top seed who is based in the French city but now plays under the Italian flag.

Galifi recovered from a game down to beat Finland's No8 seed Henrik Mustonen 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] Stephane Galifi (ITA) v [4] Yann Perrin (FRA)
[2] Alan Clyne (SCO) v [Q] Borja Golan (ESP)