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Sat 4th Feb, Semi-Finals:
 Semi-finals
day in Linkoping, and tournament promoter Fredrik Johnson
is a happy bunny so far:
"We have had four very good days here at the Case SO,
including two days of qualification and now two days in the
main draw at the glass court.
"Saturday looks very promising with all the semi finalists
being in the top 12 in the world. It will be a very big
crowd at the arena and it looks as it will be 'sold out'".
[2] Karim Darwish
(Egy) bt Daryl Selby (Eng)
11/2, 11/2, 6/11, 11/8 (47m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [3] Peter Barker (Eng)
11/1, 11/3, 11/2 (33m)
 AS IT HAPPENED...
Darwish ends Daryl's run
Well, a bit like an Adrian Grant or a Thierry Lincou,
Daryl seems to be starting slowly nowadays, but gosh
does he comes back strong later on!
After really letting
Karim dominate the middle in the first two games, he
took control and showed some pretty good squash indeed.
I
thought we were in for a decider, but the Egyptian gave it a
big push at the right time, finally closing the 4th 11/8...
"Good crowd, I tried to give Karim a
good match. I had a very good week at one of the best Squash
tournaments in the world.
"I will gladly be back next year and then I hope for a more prominent
place.
 Always difficult to play against Selby, he's usually a late starter
which means you have to be awake the whole match because he always
comes up towards the end.
"Looking forward to the finals tomorrow.
 Gaultier
on fire
As for Greg's match, here is
a tweet from Mohamed El Shorbagy that summarises it all...
"Just watched Gaultier Vs Barker.....Absolute a joke
accuracy from Gaultier!!! The guy on fire!!!"
"I'm not sure if I deserve any
applause today, I tried to catch up with Gregory and in the
end I improved myself a bit and got the result 11-3.
Now I'm going home and rest myself up for the next
tournament. "
 "Very
good match for me and I felt very strong, despite having
just arrived from New York. I feel fit and physically strong
and it shows in my game. I hope the audience enjoyed the
match and I'm really looking forward to the final. "
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