Coll Survives Dessouky Marathon To Secure Giza Semi

New Zealand's world No.2 Paul Coll recovered from 2/1 down to beat Egypt's Fares Dessouky in an 83-minute CIB Egyptian Open battle to reach the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Platinum event at the Great Pyramids Of Giza in Cairo.

Midway through the first game Dessouky's concentration seemed to slip and Coll moved into a one game lead with an 11-6 win - but the Egyptian soon returned to his best in the second as he levelled with an 11-8 victory.

Both players made more errors than they'd have liked in the third, with Dessouky better able to find his mark as he moved to 10-8. Coll saved one game ball, before a controversial stroke decision for Dessouky put the Egyptian 2/1 ahead.

The Kiwi forced a fifth game thanks to an 11-5 win in the fourth and, in a thrilling decider, it was the tireless Coll who managed the situation better after converting his first match ball at 10-7 to reach the semi-finals.

"I thought I actually played well in the third," explained Coll later. "It was at a crucial time, at 4-2, I made four mistakes from good positions - and against someone like Fares, who can hit so many winners, it's just suicide.

"Those mistakes were just shocking. It was unforgivable. You can't do that.

"I was still trusting my shots and putting them in when I worked an opening, but it was good. I was happy with that performance. Even when 2/1 down I believed in myself really well."

Coll's semi-final opponent Diego Elias also fought back to earn a place in the last four, when he beat Egypt's No.8 seed Marwan Elshorbagy 3/2.

In a helter-skelter first game, Elias raced into a 6-0 lead, however it was Elshorbagy who took the opener 11-8 after an excellent fightback.

The world No.9 looked strong at the beginning of the second game before Elias launched a furious comeback of his own to take nine unanswered points from 4-2 down to level the match.

Elshorbagy took the third game 11-7 against a passive Elias, but the Peruvian Puma stepped up in the fourth as he clinched an 11-5 win to take the match into a fifth game.

In the final game, as Elias began to open up a lead, errors started to flow from Elshorbagy's racket, and Elias was able to see things out with a second 11-5 victory.

"I have the head-to-head record, but he always plays a good match with me and it's always close," said Elias on court post-match.

"I'm just happy to win this one. Marwan's a very good friend and I think today, in one game one of us was playing well and in another the other was. I'm just happy with the win."

In the women's draw, world No.2 and last year's runner up Nour El Sherbini eased into the semi-finals after overcoming England's Sarah-Jane Perry 3/0.

El Sherbini, who enjoyed a 13-4 Tour head-to-head record against Perry ahead of the match, was made to work hard by the Englishwoman in the first game, as both players adjusted to the court conditions.

Perry held a slim lead at 9-8, but El Sherbini was then able to find a more consistent length as she came back to take the first game 13-11.

That opening game seemed crucial, with El Sherbini looking far more at ease in the second. 'The Warrior Princess' quickly took the second game 11-3 and then brought the match to an end in 30 minutes with an 11-4 win in the third game.

"It's hard to adapt to different types of courts. This one was totally different to the [SODIC Club S one]. We didn't have a lot of time on this one so in the first game both of us were trying to adapt our game," El Sherbini said.

"I'm very glad I won the first game, it was a crucial one. I'm happy to win the first game and I was happy to play better in the next two games."

Elsewhere, Egypt's Hania El Hammamy came through a fierce test with USA's Olivia Fiechter to progress to the semi-finals.

In the pair's first meeting on tour, El Hammamy made an assured start as she took the first game 11-5, but Fiechter responded well in the second to level with an 11-9 win.

The Egyptian came back in an entertaining third game battle, with El Hammamy able to better control the middle against the attack-minded Fiechter as she regained her lead with an 11-7 triumph.

Fiechter continued to probe El Hammamy's defences in the fourth game, but the world No.3 was able to push on to reach a semi-final showdown with El Sherbini.

"You can't compare an exhibition match [which the pair played in the summer] with an official PSA match," said El Hammamy.

"It's a major tournament and I knew she'd be giving her all to reach the semi-final, so I had to be very focused. I knew she's been playing really well so I had to watch her and actually get a good gameplan and I'm happy I could do that."