Nick Matthew takes first semi-final spot!

"I can't get too carried away by that win," Matthew told MC Andy Kay afterwards. "I've got to keep my feet on the floor - there are two rounds to go yet.

In a match where 6 World Championship titles have been on the new ASB glass court in Manchester, English 2-times winner Nick Matthew (le) was most of the time in control of Egyptian maestro and 4-times champion Amr Shabana (ri).

Finally Matthew won in straight games (11-8, 11-4, 11-7) to book his 5th World Championship semi-final.

Semi-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [4] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (48m)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [8] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 (43m)
[6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 12-10, 11-6, 2-11, 11-9 (78m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [13] Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 (60m)