Grant Survives Scare To Vanquish Abbas In Virginia

England's fourth seed Adrian Grant was fully extended by Egypt's Mohammed Abbas before beating the fifth seed in the quarter-finals of the Davenport Virginia Pro Championship in Richmond, USA.

The London-born left-hander had to fight back from two games down to win 4-11 9-11 11-2 11-7 11-8 in 76 minutes to earn his predicted semi-final bout with second seed Wael El Hindi, also an Egyptian.

In one of two quarter-final marathons which lasted more than 80 minutes, El Hindi defeated Australia's sixth seed Cameron Pilley 10-11 11-9 11-6 10-11 11-4 in 82 minutes.

The other two players left in the draw of the $30,000 PSA Tour event reached the semi-finals in contrasting styles. Favourite John White, fresh from his success in last week's Dayton Open in Ohio, brushed aside England's unseeded Mark Heather 11-8 6-11 11-3 11-2 in just 41 minutes.

The Scot's opponent, however, took more than twice as long to make the last four. Canada's Graham Ryding, the third seed, twice saw his lead pegged back by Australian Dan Jenson before finally seeing off the seventh seed 11-6 11-7 10-11 3-11 11-9 in 83 minutes.

Quarter-finals:
[1] John White (SCO) bt Mark Heather (ENG) 11-8, 6-11, 11-3, 11-2 (41m)
[3] Graham Ryding (CAN) bt [7] Dan Jenson (AUS) 11-6, 11-7, 10-11 (0-2), 3-11, 11-9 (83m)
[4] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [5] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 4-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8 (76m)
[2] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [6] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-6, 10-11 (1-3), 11-4 (82m)