Mosaad Overcomes Ashour In Grasshopper Quarters

World Champion Ramy Ashour's hopes of winning back-to-back PSA World Tour titles came crashing down as he limped off court against fellow Egyptian Omar Mosaad during the quarter-finals of the 2015 Grasshopper Cup, the PSA International 70 event at Puls 5 in Zurich.

Just 24 hours earlier, Ashour defied all logic to come from two games down to beat home favourite Nicolas Mueller in his first round match. But Mosaad showed his intent from the opening point, taking the ball short at every opportunity to test Ashour's movement following his first round battle - a tactic that paid dividends.

The imposing world No.9 played with composure to take a two-game lead and while Ashour mounted a fightback to reduce the deficit, an awkward-looking lunge during the third game left the world No.6 anguishing - and it proved to be the final nail in his tournament coffin. The three-time World Champion and winner of last week's El Gouna International conceded the match with Mosaad leading 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 9-4.

"Of course I am happy to reach the semi-finals but that is not the way I want to win and it is hard for me," said Mosaad.

"I'm really sorry for what happened to Ramy. He played amazing in El Gouna last week but had a tough match against Nicolas Mueller last night, where I think he got injured, so I hope he has a speedy recovery.

"Tomorrow I play Simon Rösner and I will do my best and hopefully play well."

Mosaad's last four opponent came through a tough match against Indian qualifier Saurav Ghosal to book his berth in the semi-finals. German number one Rösner struggled to find his best form during the encounter but managed enough to keep the Indian at bay.

Earlier, top seed Gregory Gaultier was in commanding form against England's Daryl Selby.

The world No.3 from France controlled proceedings from the start in a scintillating performance, winning 3/0 in just 45 minutes.

"Daryl is a great mover and he absorbs pressure really well so you always have to be on your toes and control the court against him and break his rhythm," said Gaultier.

"I managed to move a little better today than the first round and play more accurately. I had a little bit more confidence today as well after the first round and I feel like I played quite well today."

Gaultier will take on world No.5 Miguel Angel Rodriguez of Colombia in the last four.

Grasshopper Cup image courtesy of Irena Vanisova