Kuwait - April 9, 2007: Egypt's Ramy Ashour and Scotland's John White have won their way through to the men's semi-finals in the world's richest squash tournament, the 2007 Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open.
World number five Ramy Ashour fought a tight quarter-final contest against fellow Egyptian Wael El Hindi. Ashour managed to edge out his compatriot in the first two games but smacked his ankle with his racket, giving El Hindi the chance to get on top in the third. Ashour fought back to win the fourth game 11/9.
Ashour said he has his eye firmly fixed on a place in the finals. ""I'm happy to have played a long match, as I haven't had one for a while. It's the first pressure match I've played with my new rackets, so I wasn't as comfortable as I normally am. I had to adapt some of my shots."
In the second men's quarter-final, world number eleven John White proved too strong for the higher-ranked Karim Darwish of Egypt, winning in four games to set up a semi-final clash against Ashour.
Top seed Amr Shabana and world number three David Palmer will play their quarter-final matches on centre court at the Al Qadsia Sports Club tonight.
In the women's WISPA event, Natalie Grainger of the United States and England's Vicky Botwright have won through to the semi-finals. Top women's seed Nicol David of Malaysia plays her quarter-final match tonight.
With a total prize fund of more than $258,000, the 2007 Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Squash Open is the richest tournament in the history of squash. The men's PSA (Professional Squash Association) event carried a prize fund of $200,000 while the Women's WISPA (Women's International Squash Players Association) is valued at more than $58,000.
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© Press Release 2007
