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[8] Scott Arnold (Aus) bt [3] Renan Lavigne (Fra)
            11/6, 3/11, 15/13, 3/11, 11/9 (84m)
[4] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [7] Bradley Hindle (Aus)
            11/6, 11/8, 11/7 (32m)
[1] Borja Golan (Esp) bt [6] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
            11/3, 11/6, 11/6 (30m)
[2] Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt [5] Amr Swelim (Egy)
            11/5, 11/6, 12/10 (37m)

[8] Scott Arnold (Aus) bt [3] Renan Lavigne (Fra)
      11/6, 3/11, 15/13, 3/11, 11/8 (84m)

Scott squeezes through

Well, what a thriller for the first quarter-final, and the first upset of the tournament as Scott Arnold came from 6/1 down in the fifth to oust third seed Renan Lavigne.

The Australian had started well, keeping Renan on a tight leash in the first, but the Frenchman, gritty and nippy as ever, upped the pace and began to control things in the second as he levelled the match.

He was on top in the third as well, always ahead until Scott, digging in well, levelled at 9-all. Renan  got to game ball first, should have taken it on his third chance when he tinned what would probably have been a stroke had he asked, and was suitably annoyed when Scott retook the lead with a stroke.

The third seed was dominant in the fourth though, and looked to have all the answers in the fifth too as he took a 6/1 and 7/2 lead. Something woke Scott up though, and he dug in once more, making the rallies hard, getting the better of most of them as Renan became more and more vocal with his discussions with the referee.

Scott levelled at 7-all, lost the lead on a 'no let' that he disputed strongly with the referee, but took the next four points with crisp winners to seal a fine win and a place in the semis.

"All day I felt like I pulled up ok after yesterday's match and I felt good right from the start in the first. I felt I played really well there and maybe rested on that a bit too much. He upped the pace in the second and I didn't react.

"I knew I had to dig in in the third, going 2/1 down after a hard match last time was going to be bad news, so I put a lot of effort into that third.

"I needed a good start in the fourth but he got one instead, and then he got away from me in the fifth. I was being too defensive, you can't conserve yourself in the fifth - I got a couple of points and told myself I wasn't going to win without doing something, so I got more aggressive, and became more confident.

"It's always going to get tense in the fifth, there were a few disputed calls but overall I think it was a fair match. Renan's such a good player, he makes is really hard for you and you know you're going to have to work to win your points.

"It's a good win though, and I'm delighted to be in the semis."

"I knew I had to keep the pace high to make my life easy and it worked ok in the two games I won and until 7-2 up in the fifth. I had so many opportunities in this match, like 4 or 5 game balls in the 3rd, and on one of them, I went through the interference and played the ball and tinned it.

"At the moment, I have no confidence, it is the second time in four days I am well up in a match and few points away from winning and I still manage to loose. My mistake was to wait for his mistakes at 7-2 in the fifth and he just played error-free squash from then.

"The last six months have definitely been the worst six months of my career and at the moment I feel I want to stop playing on the Tour, I do not enjoy it that much anymore, I do not see the point of carrying on travelling, I enjoy playing leagues much more, when I do not play just for myself but for team-mates, for sponsors, for a club."

Renan Lavigne

"I thought I played pretty well, I'm just not used to all those angles though. I train quite a bit different to that, so there were parts of the match where I didn't feel comfortable at all.

He can score three points in five shots, I'd feel in control and then just lose control very quickly.

"I enjoyed it though, I enjoyed playing him and I certainly didn't get blown off the court.

"It's part of the learning process, I'll do things in my training to cope with that type of game.

"Hi Mum, how ya sleeping?"

[4] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [7] Bradley Hindle (Aus)
      11/6, 11/8, 11/7 (32m)

Shorbagy Shines

If the first quarter-final was a bit of a 'grinder', this one was much more 'whizz-bang whallop.' As Bradley Hindle said afterwards, "he can win three points with five shots," which pretty much summed up the World Junior Champion's play in this match.

Shorbagy was going for his shots from the outset, twisting and turning his opponent for all he was worth. And while he did score a lot of very quick points, much to the crowd's delight, Bradley made him work for a lot of them too, when he could manage to impose some structure on the rallies.

The youngster made quite a few errors too tonight, but fortunately most of them came when he was well ahead in the second and third games. On another night he might be made to pay for those, maybe tonight if he'd made them earlier.

But there was to be no upset, and despite wasting five match balls Shorbagy marches into an all-Egyptian semi-final.

"I played well in the first and was leading in the second and third but made some mistakes, which isn't good. It's good to finish in three though, saving some energy for tomorrow where I hope I can be more consistent.

"He played a very English game, lots of lengths and not too much short, whereas my game is all going short and angles, he struggled a bit to get to some of those.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow, it's an Egyptian finalist for sure, so I'm a happy boy for today ..."

[1] Borja Golan (Esp) bt [6] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
      11/3, 11/6, 11/6 (30m)

Borja eases into semis

The home crowd were happy tonight as Spanish Champion Borja Golan kept his bid to become the first home winner of the Spanish Open title on track.

On the same courts where he won his National title a few weeks back, Borja was always in control, playing solid percentage squash, and only for a brief spell when leading in the second did he show any sign of relenting.

He was soon back on track though, and and soon enough into the last four.

"The second match in a tournament always feels better, and I felt pretty comfortable today. I knew I had to come out at 100% and maintain it because Ali is a good, improving player. I played basic the whole match and it worked ok for me.

"I made a few errors in the second, but overall it was a good match for me, not too long so I should be pretty fresh for tomorrow. I'm just taking it step by step ..."

"I didn't play my best today, all my balls were coming out into the middle, and you have to play tight if you're to have any chance of beating him.

"He just played better than me through the whole match. Good luck to him for the rest of the tournament, and I hope to do better next time ..."

"In the first two he was playing so fast, and I was trying to play him at his own game and it wasn't working.

"I started to get him to the back in the third, but he played some very good shots to get back into it, and I made a few mistakes ...

"... Disappointing."

[2] Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt [5] Amr Swelim (Egy)
      11/5, 11/6, 12/10 (37m)

Swelim falls just short

For a large part of the match, this appeared to be a retake of the Golan/Reda meeting which preceded it - Omar Mosaad well in control, despite the best efforts of compatriot Amr Swelim to knock the second seed out of his stride.

By the time Amr started to make a real impression he was 6/3 down in the third, but make an impression he did, keeping Omar behind him more, and striking the odd crisp winner as he took the lead.

He reached 10/8 too, and at least one more game looked likely, but Omar saved both with two tremendous - if risky - winners. A disappointed Amr tinned an easy shot on the next point, then hit the ball back at himself to finish a match he wanted more of.

So Omar faces Shorbagy for a place in the final - their first PSA meeting ...

"It was a tough match, he's a good players and he has good shots so I tried to play basic to get control ... I played some good shots myself and he made more mistakes than me.

"The third was difficult, if I'd lost that it would have become a very hard match for me as he's very quick and very fit. I took a few risks on the game balls and luckily it worked for me."

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