Frenchman Thierry Lincou and Egypt's former champion Amr Shabana earned places in the semi-finals of the Delaware Investments US Open after contrasting quarter-final wins in the fifth PSA World Series squash event of the year at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Top-ranked Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema was looking for his first Tour win over Shabana in their fifth meeting since January 2006. And the tall 28-year-old from The Hague kept a tight rein on his illustrious opponent in the opening game, maintaining the lead throughout before moving 1/0 ahead.
But as the second game got underway, the Egyptian seemed to be picking up the pace. Fellow left-hander Shabana was moving well - and it was Anjema who began to be hurried and harried.
After drawing level, Shabana was buzzing in the third, moving effortlessly and playing some amazing shots. The four-time world champion from Cairo moved 2/1 up after two forced errors from Anjema.
Both players had the lead in the fourth - with Anjema going on to save two match balls before having a pair of game-balls of his own. But it was a trademark volley into the nick one final time that clinched the match for Shabana to bring an exhilarating clash to an end.
"Sometimes things don't happen the way you want - he started well, the crowd got behind him and got him pumped up, so I needed to focus, regroup and do it all the hard way," Shabana later told the official event website www.usopensquash.com after his 5-11, 11-6, 11-4, 15-13 victory in 78 minutes.
"I got back into it, he changed his game plan so I had to come up with new one myself, it was like a chess game, but it was very tough at the end," added the world No5.
"Now the crowd favourite is out, maybe I'll be their favourite tomorrow!"
Fourth seed Shabana, the 2009 champion, now takes on sixth seed Thierry Lincou, the veteran of nine PSA World Series Finals appearances who earned his first semi-final slot in a 2011 World Series event after beating unseeded Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8.
Iskandar played well enough to take the first game, but the 35-year-old Frenchman is a known slow starter. Lincou gained the upper hand in the second and third to move ahead.
The rallies were longer and tougher in the fourth as Iskandar reduced the errors to make the game more competitive. But it was a final unforced error from the Malaysian that put Lincou through to his first US Open semi-final since 2003.
"I felt pretty comfortable in the second and third games," said former world number one Lincou. "I wasn't sure if something was wrong with Azlan as he was very up and down, didn't seem really fired up and was giving me a few easy points which boosted my confidence.
"I knew I still had to try to keep the ball as straight as I could though, he's very explosive on attacking the cross-courts.
"He played better in the fourth, I think I was trying to finish it off a bit too quickly and froze a little.
"It should be a good match with Shabana," added the world No10. "Once you get to these later rounds the pressure is off, you still want to win but you know you've reached where you should, everything's a bonus after that."
RESULTS: PSA World Series Delaware Investments US Open, Philadelphia, USA
Quarter-finals (lower half of draw):
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 5-11, 11-6, 11-4, 15-13 (78m)
[6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (58m)
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [3] James Willstrop (ENG)
[6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [4] Amr Shabana (EGY)
More details on the Official Website: www.usopensquash.com
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