Cardenas Conquers Top Seed In Cleveland To Reach Maiden Silver Semi

Mexico's Leonel Cardenas has reached his first PSA World Tour Silver event semi-final after defeating top seed Eain Yow Ng in the men's Squash in the Land Presented by Greater Cleveland Squash in Cleveland, USA.

In other action on the first quarter-final day, England's Georgina Kennedy won out in all-England affair, and Scotland's Greg Lobban progressed after home hope Shahjahan Khan was forced to withdraw.

World No.34 Cardenas took the first game 11-7 again Ng, the world No.19. The Mexican continued on the front foot, but the No.1 seed had begun the second game more consistently, and kept level with his on-form opponent to 8-8. Yow Ng made a costly error alongside conceding two strokes to give the No.6 seed a 2/0 advantage and a chance wrap up the first quarter-final match in three games.

But the Malaysian favourite hit back to reduce the deficit, taking the third game 13-11. After saving seven match-balls in the fourth, Ng held his nerve to draw level.

In the fifth game, the Mexican played more to the front of the court than before, but it was errors from Yow Ng that exacerbated Cardenas' lead, giving the No.6 seed an 8-2 lead. Cardenas earned an additional five match balls after an error from Yow Ng. It looked as though the fifth game could go the way of the last two as the Malaysian prevented Cardenas' eighth match ball, but a sensational cross-court nick finally won Cardenas the match after five games and 92 minutes.

"It's mental for me to play against him," said Cardenas after the match. "He beat me the last couple of times. He's a great player, he's one of the top players and I think the hardest thing in training was believing I could do it. I always give my 100% and I always fight for every point. I think I just kept saying 'fight, fight' and I made a result."

Georgina Kennedy, top seed in the women's event, defeated fellow Englishwoman Lucy Beecroft to round off the first day of quarter-finals at Squash in the Land.

"We get on really well off the court," said Kennedy after the match. "Even though the scoreline looked convincing on paper, she is such a skilful player. One of the most talented you'll see."

In the second men's match of the evening, Scotland's Greg Lobban progresses to the semi-finals after an injury forced USA's Shahjahan Khan to concede the match in the second game. Lobban looked strong in the first game, earning an 8-2 lead with solid defensive play, but it was clear that the American wasn't at 100% in the rallies as the Scotsman made light work in converting his lead to take the first game 11-6. Lobban dominated the early stages of the second game, gaining a 4-1 advantage before Khan called an end to proceedings.

Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam claimed a resounding victory over England's Alicia Mead to progress to her third World Tour semi-final of the season. The Englishwoman, who scored an upset win over No.7 seed Hana Ramadan the day before, couldn't keep up with the Malaysian as she stormed to a convincing 3/0 victory in just 23 minutes.