Rachael Grinham Out In Mixed Australia Day In Qatar

After running incident-free through the first two rounds, it was the women's Qatar Classic which saw the greatest upset on quarter-finals day at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in Doha when Australia's world No1 Rachael Grinham fell in five games to sixth seed Vicky Botwright in her first loss to the English woman in 12 career meetings since May 2000.

It was an otherwise good Australia day, however, as Rachael's younger sister Natalie Grinham survived a five-game battle to reach the last four of the women's event, while third seed David Palmer and seventh seed Anthony Ricketts set up the potential of an all-Australian final in the men's event.

After losing the opening game, favourite Rachael Grinham breezed through the next two for the loss of just a single point - and seemed set on a comfortable victory. But Botwright battled on, and after taking the fourth, swept to an unlikely triumph by winning the fifth in a whitewash to gain a remarkable 9-7 1-9 0-9 9-5 9-0 win in 48 minutes.

Neither player seemed able to explain the bizarre turnaround which led the Australian to fail to reach the last four of a WISPA Grand Prix event for the first time since December 2003. "Honestly, I felt totally outplayed, and the next thing I knew, I was 8-0 up in the fifth," said the Botwright, candidly, to www.squashsite.co.uk

After recording the best win of her career, the 28-year-old from Manchester now faces Malaysian star Nicol David, the third seed who avenged last week's straight games defeat by England's Linda Elriani in the English Premier League to beat the fifth seed 7-9 9-6 10-8 10-9 in an evenly-contested 56-minute clash.

In the other semi-final of the WISPA Platinum event, fourth seed Natalie Grinham will take on second seed Vanessa Atkinson, the world champion from The Hague. Grinham, the 27-year-old Queenslander who is also based in the Netherlands, twice repelled fight backs by Omneya Abdel Kawy before beating the eighth seed from Egypt 9-0 6-9 9-1 2-9 9-5 in 58 minutes.

After four-game battles in the first two rounds, Atkinson brushed aside England's No7 seed Jenny Duncalf 9-3 9-2 9-7 in just 33 minutes to keep alive her hopes of reaching the Qatar Classic final for the second year in a row.

It was a case of two halves in the men's quarter-finals of the PSA Super Series event: Top seed Thierry Lincou and third seed David Palmer will meet in the top half semi after surviving bruising five-game marathons, while Ricketts and Englishman James Willstrop will contest the other semi-final after swift straight games successes.

It was nip and tuck in the opening match between Frenchman Lincou, the world champion from Marseille, and Scotland's surprise quarter-finalist John White, the 11th seed who knocked out England's twice-champion Peter Nicol. It was anyone's match until 9-9 in the fifth game when Lincou pressed home his rankings advantage to secure an 8-11 11-6 11-2 9-11 11-9 win in 79 minutes.

Later, former world champion David Palmer, from Lithgow in New South Wales, put paid to an all-French semi-final by beating tenth seed Gregory Gaultier 11-7 8-11 10-11 11-6 11-3 in 77 minutes.

Eighth seed James Willstrop became the only Englishman through to the last four when he beat qualifier Alex Gough. The Welshman, celebrating his first appearance in a PSA Super Series quarter-final since April 2002 after upsetting England's fourth seed Lee Beachill in the first round, was unable to continue his giant-killing run and went down 11-8 11-6 11-1 in 27 minutes to the 22-year-old from Yorkshire.

It took Anthony Ricketts, from Sydney, only 25 minutes to secure his place in the last four, overcoming qualifier Stewart Boswell in an all-Australian clash. Boswell, the comeback King who has notched up eight PSA Tour titles this year in his return to the circuit after a two-year back injury layoff, failed to recreate the same form which saw him remove Canada's world No2 Jonathon Power in the previous round.

Ricketts, whose maiden British Open title success last month took him to a career-high world No3 ranking this month, despatched Boswell 11-5 11-3 11-1 to reach the Qatar Classic semi-finals for the first time.

Men's quarter-finals:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [11] John White (SCO) 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 9-11, 11-9 (79m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [10] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-7, 8-11, 10-11 (4-6), 11-6, 11-3 (77m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Alex Gough (WAL) 11-8, 11-6, 11-1 (27m)
[7] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [Q] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-5, 11-3, 11-1 (25m)

Women's quarter-finals:
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 9-7, 1-9, 0-9, 9-5, 9-0 (48m)
[3] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5] Linda Elriani (ENG) 7-9, 9-6, 10-8, 10-9 (56m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-0, 6-9, 9-1, 2-9, 9-5 (58m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [7] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-3, 9-2, 9-7 (33m)