RESULTS: Pacific Athletic Club Squash Open, Redwood City, CA, USA
Quarter-finals:
[1] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [6] Arturo Salazar (MEX) 11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 11-6 (71m)
[7] Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt [Q] Bradley Hindle (MLT) 11-8, 11-3, 8-11, 16-14 (65m)
[3] Julian Illingworth (USA) bt [8] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (30m)
[2] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [5] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 12-10, 12-10, 11-4 (50m)
Seventh-seeded Italian Stephane Galifi claimed an unexpected place in the semi-finals of the Pacific Athletic Club Open after overcoming Malta's Bradley Hindle in the $22,500 PSA World Tour squash event at the Pacific Athletic Club in Redwood City in the US state of California.
Hindle, a qualifier, reached the last eight after upsetting New Zealand's fourth seed Martin Knight in the opening round.
And the Netherlands-based 29-year-old stretched Galifi, the world No58 from Aix-en-Provence, for four games and 65 minutes before the No7 seed finally clinched his 11-8, 11-3, 8-11, 16-14 victory.
Galifi will now face top-seeded Finn Olli Tuominen for a place in the final.
The other semi-final will be an all-North American clash between defending champion Julian Illingworth, the No3 seed from New York, and Canada's second seed Shahier Razik, from Toronto.
Record six-time US national champion Illingworth took just 30 minutes to despatch Jan Koukal, the No8 seed from the Czech Republic, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5, while Razik ended New Zealand interest in the event by beating fifth seed Campbell Grayson 12-10, 12-10, 11-4 in 50 minutes.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v [7] Stephane Galifi (ITA)
[2] Shahier Razik (CAN) v [3] Julian Illingworth (USA)
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