Colombian Rodriguez Bidding To Upset Home Hopes In London

Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the world No14 from Colombia, will be bidding to prevent a home final in the 2014 Canary Wharf Classic after booking his place to face England's Nick Matthew in the semi-finals of the PSA International 50 squash event at East Wintergarden in London.

Rodriguez came through a tough and testing quarter-final encounter with Max Lee - the Hong Kong qualifier who upset former world No1 Karim Darwish in the first round - and will now take on world No1 Matthew as the only remaining non-Englishman in the draw.

The highest-ranked South American player of all-time, Rodriguez was forced to fight for every point in the 68-minute match and his tenacity and determination paid off as he came from 7-1 down in the fourth game to force a tie-break which he eventually edged to take the match 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10.

"That was one of the toughest matches of the year for me," said Rodriguez. "I had to be very strong both mentally and physically.

"Max had a great performance against Darwish two days ago in the biggest win of his career and he showed he can be at the top and I had to dig in.

"In the fourth game I had to be very patient and I changed my strategy and thankfully it worked.

"We train together in Orlando and we know each other's games and each other's weaknesses," he added. "But I am glad I could win this match as it was very important for me as it will help me improve a little in the rankings.

"Canary Wharf is one of the best tournaments and one of the best crowds I've ever seen. From the first round it is packed and you feel like you're in a final from the first game.

"The most important thing is that I show my strengths and talents on court and I'm looking forward to the semi-final tomorrow."

Top seed Matthew earned his spot in his fifth consecutive Canary Wharf semi-final by beating seventh-seeded Egyptian Omar Mosaad 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, while No2 seed and defending champion James Willstrop eased into the last four after despatching fellow countryman Daryl Selby 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 in just 30 minutes.

Peter Barker made it a triumvirate of English hopes in the semi-finals after coming through a tense affair with German national champion Simon Rosner - and he will take on Willstrop for a place in the final.

"That was a really tough match against Simon and I knew it was going to be," said Barker after his 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 13-11 victory in 78 minutes - the longest match of the day.

"I lost to him last time we played so I'm really pleased to get through," said the London left-hander. "I have had a tough draw but I'm just taking it one match at a time - it wasn't a vintage performance but I'm happy to be coming back tomorrow.

"James is a class player but my only win against him came on this court so that's a boost. I'm on home turf as well so hopefully the crowd can get behind me and I'm looking forward to the match."

Picture courtesy of SquashPics.com