MANCHESTER (England), Oct 16: England’s Peter Nicol will meet Australia’s Anthony Ricketts in the semifinals of the British Open squash championship after ousting world number one and top seed Thierry Lincou of France.

The former Scot and five-times finalist won 11-6 8-11 11-7 11-7 in a 74-minute marathon quarterfinal on Saturday.

Nicol, 32, is enjoying a renaissance since slipping from the top of the world rankings a year ago and is now focussed on a third successive gold medal at next year’s Commonwealth Games.

“This is the best I’ve played since the English Open (in August) by a long way,” said Nicol, twice a British Open winner.

“For me, playing well is more important than winning though I do want to win this trophy for a third time.”

Ricketts, the sixth seed from Sydney, coasted to an 11-2 11-8 11-5 victory over Ong Beng Hee, avenging the Malaysian’s defeat of his Australian team mate David Palmer, the defending champion, in the previous round.

Earlier, Australia’s top seed Rachael Grinham kept alive her hopes of winning the women’s title for a third successive year by beating England’s seventh seed Jenny Duncalf 5-9 9-4 9-6 9-1.

In the semis, Grinham will meet Malaysia’s third seed Nicol David, who fought from two games down to beat local favourite Vicky Botwright 8-10 7-9 9-1 9-1 9-2.

Botwright, downcast at her exit in front of a loyal home crowd, said: “I let her get too good a start in the third game, but the biggest disappointment was to lose from a 2-0 lead.”

Results:

Men (quarterfinals): Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7; Anthony Ricketts (AUS ) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-2, 11-8, 11-5; Jonathon Power (CAN ) bt John White (SCO) 11-4, 11-1, 11-4; James Willstrop (ENG) bt Stewart Boswell (AUS) 10-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4

Women (quarterfinals): Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 5-9, 9-4, 9-6, 9-1; Nicol David (MAS) bt Vicky Botwright (ENG) 8-10, 7-9, 9-1, 9-1, 9-2; Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Laura Lengthorn (ENG) 9-5, 9-7, 9-4; Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Alison Waters (ENG) 9-3, 9-4, 10-8.—Agencies