WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Ciutat de Barcelona Squash Open, Barcelona, Spain

1st round:
[1] Mohamed Essam A Hafiz (EGY) bt Andrew Whipp (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 9-11, 11-9, 11-2
[7] Phillip Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Jesse Engelbrecht (ZIM) 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-2
[3] Peter Genever (ENG) bt Laurent Elriani (FRA) 11-3, 11-10 (3-1), 11-4
[5] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [Q] Stefan Leifels (GER) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6
[8] Christian Drakenberg (SWE) bt Duncan Walsh (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 11-8
[4] Stacey Ross (ENG) bt [Q] Albert Codina (ESP) 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4
[6] Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt Oriol Salvia (ESP) 11-6, 9-11, 11-1, 11-8
[Q] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [2] Alex Stait (ENG) 8-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-9

Quarter-finals:
[1] Mohamed Essam A Hafiz (EGY) bt [7] Phillip Barker (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-8, 11-6
[5] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [3] Peter Genever (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6
[4] Stacey Ross (ENG) bt [8] Christian Drakenberg (SWE) 11-5, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5
[6] Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [Q] Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4

Scott Sails Into Barcelona Semis

England's Scott Handley sailed into the semi-finals of the Ciutat de Barcelona Squash Open in Barcelona after upsetting third-seeded compatriot Peter Genever in straight games.

The 29-year-old from Oxfordshire, seeded five, overwhelmed Genever 11-9 11-6 11-6 in the quarter-finals to set up a meeting with top seed Mohamed Essam A Hafiz.  The Egyptian was taken to a tie-break in the first game of his quarter-final, and ultimately overcame England's seventh seed Phillip Barker 11-10 11-8 11-6.

French qualifier Julien Balbo, the 25-year-old former French Junior champion who caused a notable upset on the first day when he knocked out second-seeded Englishman Alex Stait, stretched compatriot Stephane Galifi to four games in the quarter-finals, but eventually went down to the sixth seed 11-7 11-5 8-11 11-4.

Galifi now meets fourth seed Stacey Ross for a place in the final after the Englishman despatched Sweden's No8 seed Christian Drakenberg 11-5 11-4 6-11 11-5.