May 12, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429

LIVERPOOL (England), May 11: Karim Darwish, who has lived in the shadow of his compatriot greats for all his career, was struck down with injury just when he seemed likely to reach the final of the British Open here on Sunday.

The world No 7 from Egypt appeared to be on top against David Palmer, the former world champion from Australia, when he suddenly and unexpectedly quit with an Achilles tendon injury.

Even Palmer, who was relieved and slightly confused by his victory by 11-7, 3-11, 4-8 retired, admitted that he was fortunate to escape against an opponent who was close to his first major final.

“I saw him slip and thought he caught his knee but I didn’t realise that it was anything like that,” he said.

“I was in trouble there. I was under pressure and starting to panic a little at how quickly he was running away with it. I would have had to fight really hard to get out of that trouble.”

An even greater curiosity about the result was that Darwish was not going to leave the court until the match marker noticed there was blood on his knee and advised him to get it patched up.

Darwish did so and never reappeared on court. After an eight-minute delay the match was awarded to a surprised Palmer.

“I slipped at the front and it sort of cracked,” Darwish explained, referring to the hamstring. “We stopped because of the blood, but when came out I couldn’t walk any more.”

After that the man from Cairo was too disappointed to talk any more about the dream which had emerged in front of him only to crumple like a pricked balloon.

He had been so on top that he had hurtled to 8-1 in the third game before Palmer picked up three quick points. The three-time former British Open champion was not at his best, and Darwish was finding all sorts of gap into which to project winners, with drops and disguised drives.

Earlier Isabelle Stoehr failed to become the first qualifier to reach a British Open final when she was beaten 4-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-6 by Jenny Duncalf, the fifth-seeded Englishwoman.

The 28-year-old nevertheless had moments when she seemed capable of causing an upset, leading 3-1 and 5-4 in the fourth game, before Duncalf found enough of a good length in a scrappy match to pin her back before making winners.

It was a career-best achievement by the home hope, who the day before had scored her career-best win, also in four games, against Rachael Grinham, the British and World Open champion from Australia.

On Saturday, Nicol David dug herself out of trouble to earn a notable revenge and a place in the women’s semi-finals.

The world No 1 from Malaysia was a game and 4-7 down and yet recovered to win 7-9, 9-7, 9-5, 9-2 against Shelley Kitchen, the New Zealander who had delivered her a stunning defeat in the World Open in Madrid seven months ago.

David now plays Natalie Grainger, the former world No 1 who was born only 30 miles away from here but who is now an American.

The winner is bound to play a surprise finalist because both Rachael Grinham, the defending champion, and her younger sister Natalie Grinham, the Commonwealth champion, were beaten in the bottom half.

Rachael, looking quite unlike the player who also won the World Open seven months ago, was beaten in four games by Jenny Duncalf, the fifth-seeded English woman, and Natalie retired with a thigh injury at one game all against Stoehr.

Late on Saturday, there was French consolation for defending men’s champion Gregory Gaultier’s defeat when Thierry Lincou reached the semi-finals with an 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 victory over Mohammed Azlan Iskandar, the Malaysian giant-killer.

Results (x denotes seeding):

Played on Sunday:

Men’s semi-final: David Palmer (AUS x5) bt Karim Darwish (EGY x7) 11-7, 3-11, 4-8 – Darwish retired.

Women’s semi-final: Jenny Duncalf (ENG x5) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 4-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-6.

Saturday’s remaining results:

Men’s quarter-finals: James Willstrop (ENG x4) bt Peter Barker (ENG x8) 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8; Thierry Lincou (FRA x6) bt Mohammed Azlan Iskandar (MAS x11) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8.

Women’s quarter-finals: Nicol David (MAS x1) bt Shelley Kitchen (NZL x6) 7-9, 9-7, 9-5, 9-2; Natalie Grainger (USA) bt Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 9-3, 10-9, 9-6.—AFP