Top Seeds Wilt As Nicol & Willstrop Waltz Into World Semis

In a dramatic day of upsets in the men's quarter-finals of the Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Privilege World Open in Hong Kong, Englishmen Peter Nicol and James Willstrop knocked out the favourite Thierry Lincou and No2 seed Jonathon Power, respectively, while Egypt's Amr Shabana also despatched fourth seed Lee Beachill in straight games.

Australia's third seed David Palmer became the only predicted semi-finalist after beating compatriot Anthony Ricketts. The 2002 champion meets Willstrop in one semi-final while Nicol and Shabana contest the other.

By contrast, the top four seeds survived the women's quarter-finals to leave Australian sisters Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham meeting in the semi-final in the top half of the draw, and the new world No1 Vanessa Atkinson facing Malaysia's British Open champion Nicol David in the other last four encounter.

Though Lincou, who this week celebrated a complete year at the top of the world rankings, would be considered favourite to beat Nicol, it was more than four years ago that the Frenchman last got the better of the Englishman - and this was the pair's fourth meeting this year.

The top seed took the opening game against sixth seed Nicol. But the effects of Lincou's marathon second round match with fellow countryman Gregory Gaultier 24 hours earlier no doubt began to take effect as 1999 champion Nicol took the upper hand and went on to win 8-11 11-3 11-5 11-9 in 46 minutes to reach his seventh semi-final.

Amr Shabana was in scintillating form as he quashed Lee Beachill, the world No5, 11-5 11-7 11-4 in 31 minutes. The left-hander from Cairo, who became Egypt's first world champion two years ago in Pakistan, now goes on to face Nicol, whom he has never beaten in five PSA Tour meetings since 2000.

Just 24 hours after overtaking 1998 world champion Jonathon Power in the PSA world rankings for the first time, James Willstrop endorsed his status as the world No2 by beating the Canadian 11-6 7-11 11-6 11-6 in 45 minutes. The 22-year-old eighth seed from Pontefract in Yorkshire is enjoying a sensational run on the international circuit which included winning the biggest title of his career last week at the Qatar Classic in Doha.

David Palmer became the third former champion to reach the semi-finals after an 11-9 2-11 11-9 7-11 11-8 victory over Anthony Ricketts in 73 minutes. The 29-year-old from Lithgow in New South Wales' clash with Willstrop will be a repeat of their meeting in the Qatar Classic final.

The all-Grinham women's semi-final will be the first match in the history of the World Open to feature two sisters. Top seed Rachael put aside the disappointment of losing her world number one ranking this week to defeat Ireland's tenth seed Madeline Perry 9-4 9-4 10-8 in 39 minutes.

Younger sibling Natalie had good reason to be grateful to Welsh champion Tegwen Malik as she brushed aside eighth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy 9-1 1-9 9-4 9-0 in just 22 minutes. Malik had stretched the 20-year-old Egyptian to five games in a 50-minute marathon second round clash.

Despite taking over the world number one ranking for the first time at the beginning of this month, Netherlands star Vanessa Atkinson will need to win her semi-final match if she is to keep the title going into the New Year. The defending champion from The Hague defeated England's sixth seed Vicky Botwright 9-6 9-0 9-7 in the quarter-finals, while world No3 Nicol David also dashed English hopes when she beat Linda Elriani 9-4 9-7 9-7.

With the Qatar Classic title to Atkinson's credit in the past week, and a British Open triumph to David's name within the past two months, both players are enjoying good form - but the title of world number one in January awaits the winner of their 2005 World Open semi-final.

Men's quarter-finals:
[6] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 8-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 (46m)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [4] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 (31m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [7] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-9, 2-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8 (73m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [2] Jonathon Power (CAN) 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 (45m)

Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [10] Madeline Perry (IRL) 9-4, 9-4, 10-8 (39m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-1, 1-9, 9-4, 9-0 (22m)
[3] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5] Linda Elriani (ENG) 9-4, 9-7, 9-7 (39m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-6, 9-0, 9-7 (31m)