Dominguez, Farkas & Watanabe Make World Games Squash History

In a gripping five-game battle, Marta Dominguez took out No.3 seed Ka Yi Lee to become the first ever Spanish squash player to reach the semi-finals of The World Games.

Dominguez was one of three players to make national history, with Japan's Satomi Watanabe and Hungary's Farkas Balazs also becoming their nation's first ever representatives in the event's last four.

World No.58 Dominguez went in as the underdog today against world No.33 Ka Yi Lee of Hong Kong, but in good form after 3/0 wins over China's Linglu Cheng and Germany's Katerina Tycova.

The Spain No.1 made a commanding start to the match, taking game one via tie-break and then dominating game two 11-3.

Lee completely halted her momentum, though, with 11-7 and 11-2 wins to take the match into a fifth game. Dominguez dealt with the pressure of the decider better, however, taking five of the first six points of game five as she became the first Spaniard to reach the final four with an 11-6 win.

"Getting Ka Yi is a tough quarter-final draw, but I made my opportunities today. I'm very proud to play for Spain and to wear this shirt!" Dominguez said afterwards.

Dominguez will play top seed and world No.6 Satomi Watanabe in the semi-final tomorrow.

Watanabe, who looked uncomfortable in her round two match against Hannah Chukwu, was much improved today, easing past Egypt's Habiba Hani to become the first player from Japan to reach the semis.

The other semi-final will see No.2 seed Tomato Ho of Hong Kong face No.4 seed Marie Stephan of France for a spot in the final.

Both players impressed in their quarter-final wins, with Ho breezing past Switzerland's Cindy Merlo in just 21 minutes and Stephan getting the better of Germany's Saskia Beinhard in three combative games.

In the men's draw, Farkas became Hungary's first ever semi-finalist after ending Czech giant-killer Viktor Byrtus' run in a stop-start clash.

Byrtus had captured headlines on day one of the competition with a shock win over No.3 seed Raphael Kandra, which he followed up with a strong win over Dewald van Niekerk last night. The world No.104 could not strike a third upset in a row, though, with south paw Farkas overcoming Byrtus 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.

Farkas faces Swiss No.2 seed Dimitri Steinmann in the semi-final, with Steinmann - who exited in the semi-finals of the last edition - making short work of Hong Kong's Henry Leung today.

The other semi-final will see a repeat of 2022's semi-final as top seed and defending champion Victor Crouin of France plays No.4 seed Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia.

Both men enjoyed more comfortable matches today after challenging Round of 16 clashes, with Crouin defeating Switzerland's Yannick Wilhelmi 11-9, 11-9, 11-2 and 2022 bronze medal winner Rodriguez taking out Hong Kong's Alex Lau 11-7, 11-8, 11-3.