RESULTS: PSA International 35 National Bank Financial Group Open, Montreal, Canada
Quarter-finals:
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Stephane Galifi (ITA) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (54m)
[3] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-9, 11-5, 11-3 (26m)
Alister Walker (ENG) bt [4] Adrian Grant (ENG) 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (90m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-9, 6-11, 4-11, 11-3, 11-8 (73m)
A marathon 90-minute upset over fourth seed Adrian Grant in the National Bank Financial Group Open in Canada took unseeded Alister Walker into the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour International 35 squash event at Club Sportif MAA in Montreal.
Just a single ranking place separates the two Englishman - but world No19 Walker celebrated his third successive Tour victory over the Londoner after recovering from a game down to win 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9.
The Botswana-born 28-year-old might be relieved that his victory was achieved in only 90 minutes: Walker's last win over Grant, in the 2009 Sky Open in Egypt, took a minute longer than two hours!
Walker, now based in New York, next faces David Palmer, the veteran Australian who is also based in the USA. The second seed from New South Wales, winner of last week's Rocky Mountain Open in Calgary, was stretched to five games by Alan Clyne before finally getting the better of the Scottish qualifier 11-9, 6-11, 4-11, 11-3, 11-8 in 73 minutes.
Straight games successes in the top half of the draw led Dutch favourite Laurens Jan Anjema and Egypt's third seed Hisham Mohd Ashour through to the other semi-final.
Anjema, runner-up in Calgary last week, despatched Italian Stephane Galifi 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 while Ashour ended Jan Koukal's run by beating the Czech qualifier 11-9, 11-5, 11-3.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [3] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) v Alister Walker (ENG)