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SHABANA, DARWISH COAST [Main Draw]

While Egyptian stars Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish advanced in front of home crowds with a flourish, Dutch qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema maintained his giant-killing run through the Rotary Heliopolis Open Squash Championship when he upset sixth-seeded Egyptian Mohammed Abbas in the quarter-finals of the 4-star PSA Tour event at the Heliopolis Club in Cairo.

Anjema's second successive upset win came as his club-mate and Women's world #2, Vanessa Atkinson reached the finals of the WISPA event at the other end of the globe, the Seattle Open.

The 22-year-old from The Hague defeated third-seeded Canadian Graham Ryding in four games in the first round – then removed Abbas, the world No20 playing in his hometown, 11-8 11-8 1-11 11-9.

Anjema now faces a further Egyptian in the semi-finals after second seed Karim Darwish, the world No12 from Cairo, beat England's unseeded Peter Barker 11-8 11-3 11-2.

The other semi-final will also feature Egyptian interest as top seed Amr Shabana takes on Finland's fourth seed Olli Tuominen. Shabana, the former world champion from Cairo, defeated eight-seeded compatriot Wael El Hindi 11-9 5-11 11-3 11-8, while the Finn was made to fight back from 1/2 down to overcome English qualifier Jonathan Kemp 11-8 6-11 3-11 11-3 11-4.

RESULTS: Rotary Heliopolis Open Squash Championship, Cairo, Egypt

Quarter-finals:

[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-9, 5-11, 11-3, 11-8

[4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-8, 6-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4

[Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [6] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 11-8, 11-8, 1-11, 11-9

[2] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Peter Barker (ENG) 11-8, 11-3, 11-2