RESULTS: El Gouna International Open, El Gouna, Egypt

Quarter-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (37m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [5] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-4, 9-0 ret. (28m)
[3] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [13] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 (43m)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [2] Amr Shabana (EGY) 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-4 (69m)


Veteran Frenchman Thierry Lincou celebrated his 20th Tour meeting with career-long rival Amr Shabana in the quarter-finals of the El Gouna International Open by recording his longest ever win over the Egyptian to reach the last four of the inaugural $142,500 PSA Super Series squash event at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of El Gouna.

Though the 34-year-old from Marseille had won their previous encounter, in last year's Super Series Finals in England, Lincou went into the match 7-12 down in the their head-to-head Tour tally since September 2003.

In a clash described by an observer as "probably the best match of the tournament so far", seventh seed Lincou recovered from losing the first game, then survived a tie-break in the third before moving on to secure his 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11, 11-4 upset in 69 minutes over the second-seeded reigning World Open champion.

"I just tried to stay focused on my width and length," explained former world number one Lincou to www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "Because on this court - especially against Shabana - you don't get forgiven for anything loose.

"It took me a lot of energy to stay patient, but at the same time I was trying to stay in front of him. It was just mental at the end, I just needed to give it a hard push to the finish.

"It's very pleasing to reach a Platinum semi-final, it's what I'm working and training for, keeping the faith!"

Lincou, now in his second Super Series semi of the year, will face another Egyptian Karim Darwish after the third seed from Cairo defeated Australia's 13th seed Cameron Pilley 11-6, 11-9, 11-4.

But an earlier eagerly-awaited match between European rivals Gregory Gaultier and James Willstrop failed to live up to expectations when Willstrop, the fifth seed from England, was forced to concede the match midway through the second game as a result of slippery conditions on the court floor.

Both had found the court slippery during practice during the day - but had expected the night-time conditions to improve things.

Willstrop looked subdued throughout the match, not risking chasing anything that might require a stretch. At 9-0 down in the second, the Yorkshireman offered his hand.

"I know people may say I'm always complaining about this," said Willstrop. "But it's not as if I have problems on many courts. We train all year to play good matches against the other top guys in settings like this, and to be honest it's disgusting that anyone should have to concede for risk of injury because of something like this.

"I've played on courts all over the world, I certainly don't want to come off, but it's just not worth the risk."

Gaultier, the fourth seed from Aix-en-Provence, agreed that the court conditions had affected the match: "I feel really bad about taking a match like that. I could feel it was a bit slippy too, but it was affecting James more than me. There was no match - we played maybe two proper points.

"We played a great match just the other day, I was looking forward to another one. It's not what anyone wants."

Gaultier will now face favourite Ramy Ashour, the world number one from Egypt who raced to an 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 victory over unseeded compatriot Omar Mosaad.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [3] Karim Darwish (EGY)