German Denies All-English Canary Wharf Classic Semis

Germany's Simon Rösner put paid to an all-English Canary Wharf Classic semi-final line-up for the first time in the event's history with a resounding straight games victory over former champion James Willstrop at East Wintergarden in London.

The powerful world No.9 from Paderborn, who stands at 6' 3", had never previously beaten former world No.1 Willstrop - but put in an assured performance as he romped to an 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 triumph in just 36 minutes, ending the 31-year-old from Pontefract's hopes of winning the PSA International 50 squash title for the fifth time in his career.

"Obviously I'm very happy to be in the semi-finals here for the very first time and it feels amazing to get my first win over James," said Rösner.

"He's just come back from surgery and he's been playing good squash but I'm very pleased with how I kept my focus today and I was pleased with my performance because I made very few unforced errors."

Rösner will take on number two seed Peter Barker, the Essex-based world No.8 who knocked him out of the competition at the quarter-finals stage in 2014.

"I've had some very tough battles with Pete over the years and hopefully I'll be able to go out there and get my revenge for our quarter-final match last year," added the highest-ranked German of all-time.

The other semi-final will see defending champion Nick Matthew face Daryl Selby as he aims to add a fifth Canary Wharf Classic title to his already impressive trophy collection.

Matthew, the 34-year-old world No.3 from Sheffield, came through a testing encounter against dangerous Egyptian Fares Dessouki, 14-years his junior, coming through 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8 in 76 minutes to line-up against England team-mate Selby, who took 125 minutes to get past Spanish champion Borja Golan.

"Fares is a fearless young guy and it was a very tough match - there was only really a couple of points in it," said Matthew.

"All credit to him because he played with a lot of discipline and attacked at the right times but I think it was just a case of a little bit of experience helping me at the end."

Victory for Matthew would see him reach a fourth consecutive PSA World Tour event final in 2015 and with a chance of completing an impressive hat-trick of titles, having already claimed the Swedish Open and Windy City Open crowns inside the past month.

Canary Wharf Classic image courtesy of www.squashpics.com