Karim Darwish (world number 4) became the first player to reach the El-Gouna International Squash Open semis after a 3-2 win over Mohamed El-Shorbagy in an exciting game(11/9, 9/11, 11/9, 6/11, 11/6).

Darwish needed 84 minutes to overcome the resilient El-Shorbagy, who fought hard during the quarter-final game.

“It was a very hard match, and we played all the way through point for point. Mohamed is a young player, so hungry, he wants to beat everybody. And today, I really had to dig in, from the first to the last point," Darwish told the tournament's official website.

“Of course, I feel sorry for him on that last point, and I hope it’s not too bad. As for myself, I’m so happy to be in the semis, and I’m enjoying the tournament.”

Later in the day, fellow Egyptian player Hisham Ashour, who stunned Amr Shabana on Tuesday, was eliminated from the quarter final after losing 3-0 (11/6, 12/10, 11/7) to Nick Matthew (world number 3).

The English player eased past Ashour in 42 minutes to qualify for the semi-finals.

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