Top Seeds Survive In St Louis

The top four seeds sailed through to the semi-finals of the Emerson Racquet Club Pro Series after straight games victories in the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at The Racquet Club in St Louis, Missouri - the first event of the 2014 US Pro Squash Series.

Germany's Raphael Kandra was taken to tie-breaks in all three games as seventh seed Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari toiled in his bid for a surprise semi-final slot. But the No.2 seed from Essen held his nerve to close out the match 12-10, 12-10, 12-10 after 70 minutes.

Kandra will now face fourth seed Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi after the Qatari teenager saw off unseeded Spaniard Alejandro Garbi Caro 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 in 47 minutes.

It was Mexican Arturo Salazar who claimed the day's quickest win: The No.3 seed from San Luis Potosi defeated Reiko Peter 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 in just 31 minutes to end the unseeded Swiss player's St Louis run.

Salazar will now line up against Nasir Iqbal after the top seed from Pakistan beat Dutchman Sebastiaan Weenink 11-9, 11-7, 12-10.

Semi-final line-up:
[2] Raphael Kandra (GER) v [4] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
[1] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) v [3] Arturo Salazar (MEX)