RESULTS:        Saudi Squash International, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Quarter-finals:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [15] Mohammed Abbas (EGY)           11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (28m)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS)        8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-10 (3-1) (58m)
[7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [3] Thierry Lincou (FRA)           11-9, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) (56m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [6] Nick Matthew (ENG)                 11-10 (5-3), 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 (52m)

The French squash pecking order is on the verge of its first major change for eight years after Gregory Gaultier recorded his second PSA Tour win over compatriot Thierry Lincou, the long-established French number one, in the quarter-finals of the Saudi International.

Gaultier, the 23-year-old seventh seed from Aix-en-Provence who is ranked four in the world - now just one place behind his French team-mate in the Dunlop PSA World Rankings – beat third seed Lincou 11-9, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) in 56 minutes to reach the semi-finals of the final major international squash event of the year in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. 

"I feel sorry for him, it’s hard to play against each other," Gaultier told the official website www.atcosquash.com afterwards.  "I know what it is to lose against him, the last time we played he beat me, today I beat him, so in a way I’m happy to have won the match, but on the other hand I’m sorry to have beaten my best mate."

Remarkably, it was the pair's sixth Tour clash this year – with Lincou's current all-time 7-2 head-to-head lead looking in jeopardy of further erosion in the future.

"Greg really likes those conditions, it suits his game, and on such a cold court, it’s very hard to retrieve," explained the 30-year-old former world number one from Marseille.  "It was very close, very close indeed, but he was just a bit better than I was.  I could never get ahead, even when I was leading, and I couldn’t get the third, that he won with three superb backhand winners."

Gaultier, just one match away from his third successive PSA Tour final, takes on No2 seed David Palmer in a repeat of the World Open final – won by the Australian – in Egypt.  Palmer toiled for 52 minutes to overcome England's British Open champion Nick Matthew, the No6 seed, 11-10 (5-3), 11-7, 6-11, 11-7.  The match will be Palmer's sixth successive semi-final since becoming world champion in September.

The other semi-final between Egypt's top seed Amr Shabana and England's James Willstrop will also be a replay of a an earlier classic confrontation – in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open in October.

Shabana, the world number one from Cairo who had not dropped a game on his way to the last eight, continued his fine run of form with an 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 dismissal of compatriot Mohammed Abbas in just 28 minutes.  Abbas, the 15th seed, had achieved his unscheduled appearance in the last eight after upsetting eighth-seeded fellow countryman Karim Darwish in the previous round.

"I’ve been training with Mohammed every day for the past 10 or 11 years, there is no surprise.  It’s always the same when two Egyptian players play against each other, it’s who plays the tighter and better," explained the left-hander who boasts four PSA Tour titles this year, including three Super Series.  "Today, it was my turn to play well, I’m glad."

James Willstrop, the fourth seed from Pontefract eager to make up for disappointing runs in his previous two PSA events, was in sparkling form as he defeated Australia's fifth seed Anthony Ricketts 8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-10 (3-1) in 58 minutes.  The win cements the Englishman's place in the 2007 Super Series Finals, but rules out Ricketts's chances of defending his title next May in London.

"It's disappointing to lose, it was a big match for me - I wanted to get back on track before Christmas after a fairly poor run of results," said a disconsolate Ricketts later.  "I knew I needed to win to guarantee a Super Series Finals place, and my gut feel is that the quarters here wasn't quite enough. I'd have loved to defend that title, but we'll just have to see how it goes."

Semi-final line-up:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [4] James Willstrop (ENG)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) v [7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
 
Full details on the official site: www.atcosquash.com