Tom Richards (Eng) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy) 9-11, 15-13, 11-8, 11-7 (56 mins)
Both players richly deserved the ovation from the Westwood Club audience after the best match of the tournament so far. Hisham Ashour came out firing and took the opening game by a narrow margin but Richards rallied to win the crucial second game tiebreak 15-13.
Both players attacked non-stop, played fair, clean squash and produced a wonderful display of entertainment.
Richards produced a vital run of points to close out the third game from 6-5 down and held it together from an identical position in the fourth. As errors began to creep in, Ashour made more of them. Richards clearly grew in confidence and buried some stunning nicks on his way to an important victory.
He said; "Confidence is 80 per cent of what this game is all about. I feel that I am now producing the type of squash that will help me do well against the top players.
"I knew what to expect from Hisham and definitely came with a solid game plan in mind and I am pleased that it worked. It was a great game to play in and I was pleased to hang in at times when Hisham was going for everything. We all know he can hit nicks from anywhere in the court."
Ramy Ashour beat Nicolas Mueller (Swi) 12-14, 11-5, 11-5, 12-10 (43 mins)
It was a similar story in the following match as Ramy overcame Swiss underdog Nicolas Mueller, the world No.36 from Zurich, in four games of extravagant shot-making and breathtaking retrieving.
A shock looked on the cards as Mueller took advantage of a string of errors from his opponent to win the opening game 14-12 on a tiebreak, but Ashour responded in dazzling style, winning the next two games 11-5 with an array of winners from all over the court. He then had to hold his nerve as Mueller fought back in the fourth and forced the game to another tiebreak. This time Ramy edged home 12-10.
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