De Lierre Dents Barker's Hopes In Houston
RESULTS: Sanders Morris Harris Houston Open Squash Championship, Houston, USA
Quarter-finals:
[1] Phillip Barker (ENG) bt [5] Karim Yehia (EGY) 11-10 (4-2), 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-10 (3-1) (74m)
[4] Shawn De Lierre (CAN) bt [7] Beau River (USA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-7
[6] Kumail Mehmood (PAK) bt [3] Laurent Elriani (FRA) 11-4, 7-11, 11-10 (6-4), 11-8
[2] Mark Heather (ENG) bt [8] Ben Gould (AUS) 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7 (70m)
Semi-finals:
[4] Shawn De Lierre (CAN) bt [1] Phillip Barker (ENG) 11-9, 11-8, 11-10 (2-0)
[2] Mark Heather (ENG) bt [6] Kumail Mehmood (PAK) 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 7-2 ret.
De Lierre Dents Barker's Hopes In Houston
Canadian Shawn De Lierre claimed a significant scalp to reach the final of the Sanders Morris Harris Houston Open Squash Championship when he upset top seed Phillip Barker in straight games in the semi-finals at the Downtown Club in Houston, Texas.
Montreal-born De Lierre, the 23-year-old fourth seed from Toronto, despatched the English favourite - ranked 44 places higher in the world - 11-9 11-8 11-10 to celebrate his second appearance in a PSA Tour final.
Barker, also 23, from Upminster in Essex, had earlier survived a nail-biting quarter-final against fifth seed Karim Yehia, coming back from 1/2 down to beat the Egyptian 11-10 7-11 8-11 11-9 11-10 in a 74-minute marathon.
De Lierre faces another Englishman in the final - his third in the event - after Mark Heather, the No2 seed, clinched victory over Pakistan's Kumail Mehmood when the sixth seed retired injured midway through the fourth game.
Both De Lierre and Heather are looking for the second PSA titles, the Portsmouth-born Englishman in his seventh final.