Hisham Upsets Compatriot Abbas In Dayton Open

Sixth seed Hisham Mohd Ashour pulled off the only upset in the quarter-finals of the EBS Dayton Open when he beat fellow Egyptian Mohammed Abbas, the No4 seed, in straight games in the 5-star PSA Tour squash event in Dayton, USA.

The 25-year-old from Cairo was continuing the winning ways of his talented younger brother Ramy Ashour, the world No2 and last year's EBS champion.

Abbas, a crowd favourite in Ohio, where he was competing in his fifth successive Dayton Open, battled with Ashour for 50 minutes. But the outsider came from behind in the second and third games to secure an impressive 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1) upset to reach the last four.

Hisham Ashour's semi-final opponent will be Frenchman Thierry Lincou, the second seed who despatched Finland's fifth seed Olli Tuominen 11-5, 11-3, 11-8.

Egypt will also be represented in the other semi-final where former champion Karim Darwish will face Australian David Palmer. Third seed Darwish, the 2004 champion, beat eighth seed Borja Golan 11-6, 11-10 (6-4), 11-8, while top seed Palmer, in his maiden appearance in the event, recovered from a game down to defeat compatriot Cameron Pilley 10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-5, 11-4.

Quarter-finals:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-5, 11-4
[3] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [8] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-6, 11-10 (6-4), 11-8
[6] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [4] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [5] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-5, 11-3, 11-8