RESULTS: Saudi Squash International, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Quarter-finals:
[8] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [15] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 13-11 (62m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [7] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 (51m)
[4] David Palmer (AUS) bt [6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5 (47m)
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [13] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) 11-3, 12-10, 11-3 (32m)
A four-game victory over Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan in the quarter-finals of the $250,000 Saudi International at Sunset Beach in Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia led Englishman Adrian Grant through to his maiden appearance in the semi-finals of a PSA World Tour Super Series squash event in his 48th attempt since February 2001.
After beating Pakistan's Farhan Mehboob in the previous round, eighth seed Grant faced a second nephew of the legendary Jansher Khan when he took on 15th seed Aamir Atlas Khan in the opening match of the day.
And after recovering from a game down, the left-hander from London battled through to a 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 13-11 victory over his Peshawar opponent in 62 minutes to achieve his historic Tour breakthrough
"This is obviously my best result of the year - I’m in the semis of a platinum event," Grant acknowledged to the official website www.atcosquash.com afterwards. "I knew it was going to be tough, he’s been having some great results lately.
"Even after losing the first, I was still confident that I would win - I was moving well. At the start of that fourth, I really wanted to get off to a good start, and I was a bit too relaxed, too confident from the first and second game, where I was dominating," added the 29-year-old world No12.
Grant will now take on England team-mate Nick Matthew in a clash which will guarantee the first English finalist in the five-year history of the Saudi championship.
Third seed Matthew kept alive his hopes of becoming world number one for the first time next month when he beat Egypt's No7 seed Wael El Hindi 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 in 51 minutes.
"I’m really happy with that 3/0 win, saving legs and mind for tomorrow’s game," admitted the 29-year-old from Sheffield. "I’ve been playing Adrian since we were 10 years old - I’m so happy for him that he reached his first ever platinum event semi, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s match already."
The other semi-final will feature top seed Ramy Ashour, the Egyptian who is also bidding to top the PSA world rankings for the first time in January. The 22-year-old from Cairo maintained his straight games record in the event when he defeated 18-year-old compatriot Mohamed El Shorbagy, the 13th seed, 11-3, 12-10, 11-3.
Ashour made history in 2006 when he became the first man to win the World Junior Championship a second time - a feat which El Shorbagy repeated in August this year.
"It felt like a World Junior semi or final," said Ashour after the Saudi quarter-final. "It reminded me of my final against (Omar) Mosaad, the same excitement, feeling, pace.
"When I see Mohamed, I see myself, the same hunger, passion, when I was younger. I know that a lot of people would have played him keeping it simple, and straight, but I wanted to play at that pace, I wanted to race with him.
"I enjoyed the match so much, no doubt he is extremely gifted, and that he will become a spectacular player."
Ashour will face David Palmer, the fourth-seeded Australian who prevailed 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5 over fellow 33-year-old Thierry Lincou, the sixth seed from France.
"We’ve played 18 times before, 9/9 each, so I hope we’ll stay on this result, 10/9 for me," exclaimed the US-based former world number one from New South Wales.
"I look at Thierry - he had a great career, then a bit of a bad patch, recovered and came up firing again. It’s a bit like me, I have a not so good start of the season, and I got better. It’s all a question of motivation. He can still do it, and so can I!"
Semi-final line-up:
[8] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [3] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [4] David Palmer (AUS)
For up-to-the-minute information, visit the official website www.atcosquash.com