RESULTS: Dutch Open Squash Championship, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Quarter-finals:
[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [7] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-3, 11-3, 11-8
[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [6] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-3, 11-2, 11-7
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [8] Julian Illingworth (USA) 6-11, 15-13, 11-4, 11-9
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-3, 14-12, 11-7
Local hero Laurens Jan Anjema led the top four seeds through to the semi-finals of the Dutch Open Squash 2009 after a testing quarter-final victory in the $40,000 PSA World Tour championship at Victoria Squash in Rotterdam.
After comfortably winning the first game, the 2004 champion from The Hague was made to work hard in the second two by Simon Rosner before beating the rising German player 11-3, 14-12, 11-7. Anjema had to fight back from 6-10 down before taking the second in a tie break.
"I needed to come back to get the second," said relieved top seed Anjema. "It was make or break, and two-nil was a big plus for me."
Anjema will now face Daryl Selby following the fourth seed from England's 6-11, 15-13, 11-4, 11-9 win over eighth seed Julian Illingworth.
Trailing the US number one by a game and 6-8, Selby displayed determination and patience to pull through after 80 minutes.
The other semi-final will see second-seeded Australian Cameron Pilley take on Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the No3 seed from Malaysia.
Pilley, the 2008 champion from New South Wales, was in impressive form, beating Italy's seventh seed Davide Bianchetti 11-3, 11-3, 11-8, while Iskandar triumphed 11-3, 11-2, 11-7 over sixth-seeded Englishman Tom Richards.
"I'm seeded to get to the final, but it's going to be tough," said Pilley after his quarter-final victory. "I played Azlan a few weeks ago in Hong Kong and he got me 3/0 - so it's good to get a chance of revenge."
Semi-final line-up:
[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS)
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [4] Daryl Selby (ENG)
For more details, visit the tournament website www.dutchopensquash.nl