'Titi' and 'Chip' delight their fans as Palmer and Fitz march on ...

Men's Results: Mark Chaloner (Eng) bt Alex Gough (Wal) 15/13 15/12 15/8  46m David Palmer (Aus) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)  15/3 8/15 15/9 15/12  62m Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Martin Heath (Sco) 15/11 15/13 15/10  59m Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin) 15/4 15/12 15/6  33m Women's Results: Leilani Joyce (Nzl) bt Suzanne Horner (Eng)  10/8 10/8 9/6  29m Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Aus) bt Stephanie Brind (Eng)  9/6 9/4 9/2  26m Fiona Geaves (Eng) bt  Tania Bailey (Eng)  withdrawn - knee injury Carol Owens (Aus) bt Rachael Grinham  9/1 9/0 9/0  16m

AUSTRALIANS David Palmer and Sarah Fitz-Gerald are on course to add the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open titles to their British Open successes in June.

Palmer, the 23-year-old world number three from Lithgow, New South Wales, reached the semi-final today by beating Malaysia's rising star Ong Beng Hee 15-3, 8-18, 15-9, 15-12 in a pulsating match lasting just over an hour.

Beng Hee, a training partner of world champion Peter Nicol, was steamrollered for three points in the opening game as Palmer turned on the power, but he dug in his heels to take the second 15-8.

In a match full of hard-hitting and long rallies, Palmer upped the tempo to take the third game 15-9 and stemmed a determined comeback by Beng Hee to win the fourth by a three-point margin, although three refereeing decisions at the end of the match all went against Ong, much to the Asian Champion's, and the crowd's, annoyance.

"Maybe he (the referee) should take an umpiring refresher course after this," Ong told the Hong Kong i-Mail afterwards. "I don't know what he was thinking, he gave three very bad calls. They were very harsh decisions against me and it put David a couple of points ahead."

Palmer's view, as told to the i-Mail, was that "I thought one call was correct, although maybe the other two went my way. But he was starting to tire at the end of the third game and at the end of the fourth, so I only needed to stay with him.''

Beng Hee has been a hugely popular competitor here in Hong Kong and tomorrow Palmer faces  another player of Chinese extract, Thierry 'Titi' Lincou, who beat Finland's Olli Tuominen in quick-time in today's battle of the giant-killers.

Lincou is half-Chinese, lives in Marseilles and represents France. He is clearly in supreme form after beating Nicol in the first round and looks to have returned to full fitness after a four-month lay-off after injuring his racket-hand by falling off a jogging machine. "I have Chinese blood running through me so you could say I'm the last Chinese player left in the tournament,'' quipped Lincou to the i-Mail.

England's Mark 'Chip' Chaloner is the sole  British representative in the semi-finals after his straight-games win over Alex Gough of Wales. Chaloner, based at the Broxbourne club in Hertfordshire, faces Australia's No.16 seed Stewart Boswell in the semi-finals. Boswell removed Scotland's No.8 seed Martin Heath after three hugely competitive games, playing a tight, disciplined approach to restrict Heath's dynamic attacking style.

The  women's quarter-finals were over in quick time, with Australia's world champion Carol Owens - who is soon to switch nationalities to New Zealand - taking just 16 minutes to beat young Aussie Rachael Grinham for the loss of one point. Owens meets England's veteran competitor Fiona Geaves in the semi-finals after the 35-year-old from Gloucestershire was awarded a walkover when her opponent, Tania Bailey of Lincolnshire, withdrew with a knee injury.

New Zealand's top seed Leilani Joyce faces Australia's British Open champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald in what should be the match of the tournament. Joyce has lost four times in a row to Fitz-Gerald this year and says: "This will be a good time to turn things around." Their clash in the British Open semi-final in June was rated by commentators as one of the best women's matches ever seen, and Hong Kong fans will be hoping for a repeat.

Both players accounted for English opponents in the quarter-finals, Fitz-Gerald beating Stephanie Brind of Kent while Joyce was given a tough time by Yorkshire veteran Suzanne Horner, who took both opening games to 10-8 before losing third 9-6 in the longest women's match of the day (29 minutes).

The Hong Kong Indoor Games Hall is sold out for the semi-final and final sessions (despite competition from the Beach Volleyball tournament also taking place in Hong Kong this week), but squash fans worldwide will be able to follow all four semi-finals live on the internet at www.cathaysquash.com, with match previews, scoreboard, webcam, chat room and instant reports.