RESULTS: Rotary Heliopolis Open, Cairo, Egypt
Quarter-finals:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [7] Simon Rosner (GER) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4
[4] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [6] Tom Richards (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [5] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-6, 11-5, 12-10
Former world number ones Karim Darwish and Gregory Gaultier remain on course to meet in the final of the Rotary Heliopolis Open after straight games' wins in the quarter-finals of the $42,500 PSA World Tour squash event at Heliopolis Sporting Club in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
Darwish, the top seed from Cairo looking to win the long-established title for the first time, defeated top-ranked German Simon Rosner, the No7 seed, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6.
The world number four, who topped the rankings for all but one month of last year, now faces Cairo compatriot Omar Mosaad.
The 22-year-old ended Nicolas Mueller's run, beating the unseeded Swiss star 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4.
Gregory Gaultier will be hoping to deny the crowd an all-Cairo final when he takes on fourth seed Hisham Mohd Ashour in the other semi-final. The 27-year-old Frenchman beat fifth-seeded Egyptian Mohd Ali Anwar Reda 11-6, 11-5, 12-10.
Ashour faced sixth seed Tom Richards - and had to recover from a game down before defeating the Englishman 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [4] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY)