Turkish Delight For Nielsen In Istanbul

Danish qualifier Rasmus Nielsen battled for 84 minutes to produce the biggest upset in the Avrupa Konutlari International when he ousted England's No2 seed Joe Lee in the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at Avrupa Konutlari Ataken in Istanbul.

The Avrupa Konutlari International is the first PSA Tour event to be held in Turkey. The $10,000 championship has attracted a strong field, led by Egypt's world No16 Omar Mosaad.

But it was Nielsen who stole the headlines on his 28th birthday, fighting back from a game down to topple Lee 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3.

The world No 133 from Odense made his breakthrough in the opening round with a straight games win over Kashif Shuja, an experienced New Zealander ranked more than 50 places higher.

Nielsen will now face Davide Bianchetti for a place in the final after the third seed from Italy defeated Egyptian qualifier Mohd Essam El Sherif 11-2, 11-4, 11-3.

Unseeded Frenchman Fabien Verseille also claimed an unexpected place in the semi-finals when he despatched Italy's No4 seed Amr Swelim 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-1.

The 25-year-old from Aix-en-Provence will now meet favourite Mosaad. The 22-year-old from Cairo beat 17-year-old fellow countryman Marwan El Shorbagy 11-4, 11-8, 11-8.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Fabien Verseille (FRA)
[Q] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) v [3] Davide Bianchetti (ITA)