RESULTS: Zenit Black Sea Squash Open, Odessa, Ukraine
2nd round:
[1] Chris Ryder (ENG) bt [11] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 11-3, 12-10, 11-7 (49m)
[5] Jens Schoor (GER) bt [12] Basem Makram (EGY) 11-7, 14-12, 9-11, 11-6 (61m)
[4] Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [13] Alexei Severinov (RUS) 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 (25m)
[8] Neil Hitchens (ENG) bt [16] Nasser B Al-Ramzi (KUW) 11-13, 7-11, 11-8, 17-15, 11-8 (56m)
[7] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt [15] Adam Fuller (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (29m)
[3] Amr Swelim (ITA) bt [10] Issa Kamara (SLE) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)
[9] Henrik Mustonen (FIN) bt [6] Andrew McDougall (CAN) 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4 (82m)
[2] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [14] Joel Hinds (ENG) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (23m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Chris Ryder (ENG) bt [5] Jens Schoor (GER) 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 (40m)
[4] Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [8] Neil Hitchens (ENG) 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 (35m)
[3] Amr Swelim (ITA) bt [7] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (50m)
[2] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [9] Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 11-5, 11-0, 11-8 (28m)
England's Chris Ryder is one match away from celebrating his 29th birthday in Saturday's final of the Zenit Black Sea Open after beating fifth-seeded German Jens Schoor in the quarter-finals of the $10,000 PSA World Tour squash event at the Fitness Club Forma in Odessa - the first Tour event to be held in Ukraine.
The top seed from Wolverhampton took 40 minutes to overcome Schoor 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 and will now face Frenchman Stephane Galifi in the semi-finals. The fourth seed from Aix-en-Provence beat Englishman Neil Hitchens 11-5, 11-2, 11-7.
Germany's second seed Simon Rosner reserved his place in the other semi-final after beating Finland's Henrik Mustonen 11-5, 11-0, 11-8. The ninth-seeded Finn had claimed his unexpected place in the last eight after a marathon 82-minute victory over Canada's Andrew McDougall, the No6 seed, in the previous round.
Rosner, 21, from Paderborn, will face third seed Amr Swelim, the former Egyptian who is competing in his first event as an Italian. The Cairo-based 25-year-old defeated Denmark's No7 seed Rasmus Nielsen 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Chris Ryder (ENG) v [4] Stephane Galifi (FRA)
[2] Simon Rosner (GER) v [3] Amr Swelim (ITA)