"We all know that James is an outstanding squash player but he had quite a slow start today and only found his rhythm after a while," said Coppinger (pic: Sofia Tapola). South African Stephen Coppinger (ri), the 30-year-old World No.16, ended the return to action of England’s James Willstrop (le) during the quarter-finals of the 2015 CASE Swedish Open, taking out the former World No.1 (11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7) to book his place in the semis.
It was the first time that Cape Town’s Coppinger had recorded a victory over Willstrop on the PSA World Tour, having failed on all three previous attempts, but he outshone the Yorkshire-based man from the start, continuing to show the kind of composure and discipline that has seen him rise eight places in the world rankings in the last three months whilst finishing as runner-up at the recent Motor City Open.
“He has just come back from an injury and will certainly be back even stronger next game buy I’m very pleased to get the win today,” said Coppinger
Coppinger will now face World No.2 and tournament top seed Gregory Gaultier in the semi-finals after the Frenchman easily disposed of qualifier Tom Richards while defacing champion and number two seed Nick Matthew faces German Simon Rösner for a place in the final after a closely fought 3-0 victory over Australian Cameron Pilley.
Semi-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [8] Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [4] Simon Rösner (GER)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (41m)
[8] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7 (63m)
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) bt [5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (39m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 12-10, 11-8, 12-10 (60m)
1st round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Fares Dessouki (EGY) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (44m)
[Q] Tom Richards (ENG) bt [6] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 9-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-5 (53m)
[8] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [WC] Rasmus Hult (SWE) 12-10, 11-7, 11-8 (37m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8 (72m)
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 12-14, 11-6, 14-12, 14-12 (69m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Shaun le Roux (RSA) 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7 (57m)
[7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Joe Lee (ENG) 11-5, 11-9, 11-3 (40m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (30m)
