Matthew Marches Into Saudi Semis

England's Nick Matthew recovered from a two-game deficit to upset compatriot Lee Beachill and earn the only unexpected place in the semi-finals of the Saudi International, the second richest PSA Tour event of the year, in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Khobar.

The new PSA event takes on added significance for the other three semi-finalists - for whom victory would also mean becoming world number one in the first rankings of the New Year.

Matthew, the 11th seed, battled for 85 minutes to beat England team-mate Beachill, the fifth seed, 9-11 4-11 11-5 11-9 11-5. It was the 25-year-old from Sheffield's second PSA victory over former world number one Beachill - the first, in his home town in August's English Open, also a marathon in which Matthew fought back from 2/0 down to win in 93 minutes.

The Yorkshireman now goes on to face Canada's No2 seed Jonathon Power, who also survived a five-game marathon against Egypt's tenth seed Karim Darwish. The 7-11 11-7 11-3 9-11 11-4 win in 67 minutes takes Power into his first PSA Tour semi-final since winning the Motor City Open in October.

The other semi-final will feature France's world No1 Thierry Lincou and third-seeded Australian Anthony Ricketts. The top-seeded Frenchman beat eighth seed James Willstrop 11-8 11-6 10-11 11-3 in 69 minutes to deny the Englishman the chance of topping next year's world rankings after reaching world number two this month.

Meanwhile British Open champion Ricketts defeated England's Peter Nicol 11-10 11-5 11-1 in just 26 minutes.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [8] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-8, 11-6, 10-11 (1-3), 11-3 (69m)
[3] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [7] Peter Nicol (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-1 (26m)
[11] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [5] Lee Beachill (ENG) 9-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (85m)
[2] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [10] Karim Darwish (EGY) 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4 (67m)