Ross Romps Into Hithercroft Final

Top seed Stacey Ross took just 17 minutes to claim his place in the semi-finals of the Hithercroft Open in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire.

In marked contrast to his straight games victory in the first round, which lasted a remarkable 80 minutes, Ross raced to an 11-2 11-2 11-6 win over fellow Englishman Jago Nardelli, the eighth seed, to set up a meeting with fourth seed Mark Krajcsak.

The Hungarian came back from a game down to beat England's sixth seed Tom Richards 9-11 11-10 11-3 11-5 in 34 minutes.

There was disappointment in the lower half of the draw when Wallingford-based second seed Scott Handley was forced to retire injured in his quarter-final after twice holding the lead against compatriot Laurence Delasaux. The pair battled for four and a half games before seventh-seeded Yorkshireman Delasaux claimed his 10-11 11-10 5-11 11-8 6-3 win.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Stacey Ross (ENG) bt [8] Jago Nardelli (ENG) 11-2, 11-2, 11-6 (17m)
[4] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt [6] Tom Richards (ENG) 9-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-3, 11-5 (34m)
[3] Alex Stait (ENG) bt [5] Sam Miller (ENG) 11-8, 11-3, 11-10 (2-0) (48m)
[7] Laurence Delasaux (ENG) bt [2] Scott Handley (ENG) 10-11 (1-3), 11-10 (6-4), 5-11, 11-8, 6-3 ret. (50m)