Malaysians Arnold & Azman Gatecrash China Open Semis

Malaysian duo Rachel Arnold and Aira Azman put in career-best performances as they reached the semi-finals of a PSA Squash Tour Silver event for the first time with come-from-behind wins over top seed Rowan Elaraby and No.4 seed Sana Ibrahim in the China Open in Shanghai.

There were more shocks in the men's draw, too, as unseeded Egyptian Mohamed Abouelghar took down English No.2 seed Marwan ElShorbagy and Spanish No.7 seed Iker Pajares got his revenge against Egyptian No.4 seed Fares Dessouky.

In the first match of the day at the Royal Marshall Club, world No.30 Arnold followed up her impressive victory over former world No.3 Joelle King with a brilliant display against Egyptian world No.8 Elaraby.

The match appeared to be going to seedings when Elaraby took the first game 11-9 only for Arnold to power into a shock lead with 11-8 and 11-9 wins.

The 28-year-old began game four full of confidence and deservedly went 10-7 up to earn three match balls. Nerves began to creep in after Elaraby saved the first two, but she could not perform a great escape as Arnold held out to achieve a huge milestone.

"I still can't believe it!" Arnold said. "I haven't been too happy with my performances recently in the bigger tournaments so I think reaching the semis of a Silver is a big one for me."

Arnold's opponent will be her Malaysian compatriot Azman after the 20-year-old world No.36 fought back from 0/2 and match ball down to stun world No.18 Ibrahim.

Azman's maiden Silver-level quarter-final got off to the worst possible start as Ibrahim dominated early proceedings with a crushing 11-2 win in game one and an 11-9 victory in game two.

After starting game three well, Azman found herself on the brink after going match ball down three times at 9-10, 10-11 and 11-12. Incredibly, though, she was able to save all three before pouncing on an opening to snatch the game 14-12 and keep the tie alive.

With momentum now behind her and with her opponent's confidence draining, Azman pushed hard, restoring parity with a one-sided 11-3 win in game four and then taking the decider 11-6 to complete a scarcely believable turnaround.

"I'm still shaking," Azman admitted afterwards! "During the tie break I told myself that it was fine, just fight for it and push through the limit. It was more of a mental game for me today."

Azman added that watching Arnold's own comeback win earlier had inspired her and that she was looking forward to playing her compatriot on the show court at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.

The second semi-final will be contested by Malaysian No.2 seed Sivasanagari Subramaniam and Egyptian No.3 seed Farida Mohamed after each player recorded 3/1 wins, with Sivasangari overcoming Scottish No.7 seed Georgia Adderley and Mohamed getting the better of Hong Kong's No.5 seed Tomato Ho.

There were more upsets and comebacks in the men's event, as unseeded Egyptian Mohamed Abouelghar upset English No.2 seed Marwan ElShorbagy and Spanish No.7 seed Iker Pajares avenged his five-game defeat to Fares Dessouky at last month's US Open with a five-game victory of his own over the Egyptian No.4 seed.

ElShorbagy went into his match against the former World No.7 with form on his side, having beaten the Egyptian in seven of their eight meetings on Tour, including twice last month at the Open Squash Classic and Silicon Valley Open.

In Shanghai, though, he had no answer to Abouelghar, with the 31-year-old appearing to struggle with fatigue as the Egyptian completed a shock 11-3, 11-8, 11-2 win in just 26 minutes and earn a semi-final against No.3 seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia, who came from behind to beat 17-year-old Mohamed Zakaria.

Pajares's contest, meanwhile, was a far more physical affair, with the Spaniard taking the lead twice only to be reeled in each time by Dessouky in the longest match of the tournament so far.

In the decisive fifth game, though, Pajares was able to assert himself once again, going on a perfectly timed scoring run to move from 8-9 down to 11-9.

Afterwards, Pajares said: "I'm very happy with the win today, over the moon! I just remembered the different stages I went through last week. I prepared so much for this match, myself and with my coaches and it worked very well. It was very tough and warm today but I enjoyed every minute on court.

"I think it was a very good match. A lot of contact and decisions and playing through interference so many times, but I knew I had to keep pushing and pushing and it worked!"

Pajares will take on defending champion and top seed Mohamed ElShorbagy after the former world No.1 - who is hunting for his 50th PSA Squash Tour title - came from a game down to beat Hong Kong's Tsz Kwan Lau in an entertaining contest.