"Well it was nice to play Tom since we know each other from 13 years old and, yes, well, we could hit some special shots while still focusing on the win", Ashour said. Egyptian Ramy Ashour (le) and England’s James Willstrop set up the 1st NetSuite Open semi-final after despatching their quarter-final opponents in straight games.
In the 1st quarter-final 3rd seed Willstrop, the 30-year-old former world number one from England, beat Dutch rival Laurens Jan Anjema – the world No18 from The Hague – 11-2, 11-1, 11-5 in just 36 minutes of play.
Ashour, the World No1 who has won the last eight PSA World Tour events in which he has competed, overcame Tom Richards (ri), the World No22 from England 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 to extends his unbeaten Tour run to 43 matches.
Semi-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [3] James Willstrop (ENG)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (44m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-2, 11-1, 11-5 (36m)
[4] Peter Barker (ENG) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Simon Rosner (GER)
1st round:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 15-13, 11-3, 11-1 (34m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-9, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10 (74m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 (45m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-4, 11-9, 3-11, 11-3 (70m)
[4] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [WC] Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (41m)
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (51m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 14-12, 11-4, 11-7 (64m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (49m)
