Willstrop and Matthew meet in Richmond last four

Yorkshire rivals Nick Matthew and James Willstrop booked themselves another personal duel after reaching the semi-finals of the North American Open in Richmond, Viriginia.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Feb 2010, 21:37 BST
Updated 27th Feb 2010, 12:12 BST

Willstrop, the 26-year-old sixth seed from leeds, caused an upset when he saw off former world No 1 and fourth seed Gregory Gaultier, from France, 11-6 12-10 11-3 in 53 minutes.

Matthew, the current world No 2 from Sheffield, had a more testing match, taking more than an hour to see off the challenge of fellow Englishman, Adrian Grant, eventually winning 11-9 5-11 11-4 11-7.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Matthew defeated Willstrop in the final of last September's British Open after a memorable two-hour clash.

He repeated that feat at this year's Swedish Open and the British National Championships earlier this month.

Bu Willstrop – who spent four months out injured last year – has also enjoyed a fine start to the year, making it three finals in as many events when he won the year's first big event of the year, the Tournament of Champions in New York in January.

The Yorkshire duo were due to play their match in the early hours of Saturday morning (12.30 GMT). They will meet either Ramy Ashour or Amr Shabana in Saturday night's final.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

North American Open Squash Championship, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

RESULTS

Quarter-finals:

(1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt (9] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 (49m)

(3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt (14] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 (32m)

(7] James Willstrop (ENG) bt (4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-6, 12-10, 11-3 (53m)

(2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt (10] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-9, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7 (67m)

Related topics:Yorkshire