Gaultier Grabs ToC Semi Slot

France's world No2 Gregory Gaultier booked his place in the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions semi-finals for the third year in a row after defeating German Simon Rosner in straight games in the first PSA World Series squash event of the year at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

The victory - in what was his 34th consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals of a PSA World Series event - takes the top seed and 2009 champion one match away from his third appearance in the final.

"It's always good to win and Simon has been improving a lot recently," said Gaultier after his 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 win in 57 minutes.

"The past few months especially, since he won in Kuwait, has been a big confidence boost for him and he has had a few big wins this week and it highlights how tough the tour is at the moment, so I'm glad to still be able to win these matches.

"I still want to be the best in the world and I'm happy when I'm still able to beat these young guys.

"I'm going to recover now and take tomorrow as another day. I will go in with a game plan and I will try and stick to it. I have been working a lot on my mental side recently and it seems to be working and I'm quite happy with the way I played so I'm looking forward to the semi-final tomorrow."

Gaultier will now take on Mohamed Elshorbagy, the No3 seed from Egypt who earned his place in the final four with an 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 win in 60 minutes over Daryl Selby of England.

"I'm very excited to be in my first ToC semi-final," said Elshorbagy. "The match today was such a tough battle and Daryl played very well.

"It was a very flowing game played in great spirit as well and he put me under a lot of pressure so I'm happy that I came through that match to win," added the world No4 from Alexandria.

"I have never played in a semi-final here before but I hope that I can win in the semi-finals because it would mean a lot to me to make it through to the final.

"It was be very special if I could play Amr Shabana in the final because that would be a dream come true for me - to play my idol in the final of a world series event so hopefully we can both win tomorrow."

Image courtesy of SquashPics.com