Steinmann Stuns Top Seed In Epic German Open Showdown

Both top seeds found themselves in close-fought battles at the quarterfinals of the German Open Presented by Sportwerk as world No.13 Aly Abou Eleinen fell to an incredible performance from Switzerland's Dimitri Steinmann, and England No.1 Georgina Kennedy survived an all-English affair against world No.26 Lucy Turmel.

In a show-stopping spectacle, No.6 seed Steinmann overcame top seed Eleinen during five-game thriller to reach the semi-finals of the PSA Squash Tour Bronze event in Hamburg.

Eleinen lead throughout the first game, and despite disruptions to play where Steinmann was given a warning about his conduct, the Egyptian maintained composed to lead 1/0.

The Swiss number one continued his brand of explosive, attacking squash, but with Eleinen being drawn into the discussion with the referee, Steinmann looked more settled in the chaotic game and came out on top to win game two 11-9 in 13 minutes.

Steinman rocketed to 6-0, scoring winners and cutting out his earlier errors to put take the lead against the top seed, but Eleinen responded with a sensational effort in the fourth game as he recorded a perfect 11-0 game.

The fifth game saw constant moments of explosive action, where Steinmann wanted to take advantage of the volatile nature of the match, and did so to good effect, as he pushed to an 8-5 lead, closing it out with a terrific length at match ball to claim the match win and celebrate emphatically to the supporting German crowd.

"It was a really tough match mentally and physically. Always a great challenge playing Aly. I love those kind of matches. They're fiery, they're emotional and I'm happy to get through in five.

"He started really well, I couldn't find my length at all and he was dominating the first game. I was trying to find a way and it got heated, which suited me. He lost his length and it made me go in front.

"I was able to sustain it for two games then obviously he started well in the fourth. I just felt like I needed to come up with something special in the fifth and I'm glad I did and was able to find a way."

An all-England clash saw top seed Kennedy survive a close-fought encounter with world No.26 Lucy Turmel in a dramatic five games.

The match saw constant momentum swings, where neither player stayed on top, for long periods of time, but ultimately it was the England No.1 who pulled away in the fifth game to claim her place in the semi-finals.

Speaking after the match, Kennedy said: "That mental edge that you think you can have against someone - that I feel I have against other players - I don't feel like I have over Lucy.

"It was really tough, and I'm just really relieved to get through."

Another incredible battle came in the penultimate men's quarterfinal, as No.2 seed Victor Crouin came back from 0/2 down to defeat No.5 seed Leonel Cardenas after a sensational 81 minutes of action.

The Mexican was on top for the first two games playing accurate, attritional squash, but as fatigue set in and the court opened up, Crouin converted his chances to mount an incredible come back and win 3/2.

Another excellent display saw No.7 seed Nicolas Mueller overcome Egypt's Mohamed Abouelghar 3/1 in the final match of the quarterfinals.

Elsewhere, No.3 seeds Fares Dessouky and Amanda Sobhy as well as No.4 seed Melissa Alves progressed after straight-game wins, while No.2 seed Nada Abbas progressed after an injury forced Wales' Tesni Murphy to retire.