Four-game victories by Mohamed El Shorbagy and Thierry Lincou in today's semi-finals of the Macau Open have taken the top two seeds into the final of the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event at the Centro de Bowling do Complexo Desportivo Internacional de COTAI in Macau, China.

El Shorbagy, the favourite from Egypt, recovered from a game down to beat experienced Finn Olli Tuominen 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 in 62 minutes.

The 20-year-old world No8 is celebrating the eighth PSA World Tour final of his career - and his fifth this year.

Lincou, the 35-year-old Frenchman who is a former world champion and world number one, used all his experience to hold off the challenge of Hisham Mohamed Ashour - beating the world No14 from Egypt 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 13-11 in 60 minutes.

The world No10 from Marseille is on the eve of his 43rd PSA Tour final - more than 15 years after reaching his first, in Austria in October 1996.

Hisham Takes Out Azlan In Macau

The semi-final line-up of the Macau Open was resolved only after a succession of marathon quarter-final encounters in the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event today at the Centro de Bowling do Complexo Desportivo Internacional de COTAI in Macau, China.

The only upset saw Egypt's Hisham Mohamed Ashour recover from 2/1 down against Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar to beat the fourth seed - ranked just a single place higher in the PSA world rankings - 11-8, 9-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-4 in just over an hour.

The 29-year-old from Cairo will now face French veteran Thierry Lincou. After coming through a tight five-game first round battle, second seed Lincou held off the challenge of Spanish qualifier Borja Golan - beating the former world No10 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4 in 56 minutes.

But the day's longest-drawn-out affair featured the top seed Mohamed El Shorbagy. The world No8 from Alexandria survived the longest match of his professional career - and three games which went to tie-breaks - to beat Malaysian qualifier Ong Beng Hee 9-11, 12-10, 12-10, 15-17, 11-9 in 113 minutes.

The favourite will now meet Finland's Olli Tuominen for a place in the final. The unseeded 32-year-old from Helsinki - who ousted third seed Daryl Selby in the opening round - maintained his Macau momentum to overcome US number one Julian Illingworth 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 in 48 minutes.

Multi Upsets In Macau

A pair of qualifiers prevailed, and the third seed fell, during a series of upsets in today's first round of the Macau Open, the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event at the Centro de Bowling do Complexo Desportivo Internacional de COTAI in Macau, China

England's Daryl Selby was the biggest casualty - the third-seeded world No12 going down 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 to flying Finn Olli Tuominen, the former world No13 from Helsinki, now ranked 11 places below his opponent.

Tuominen progresses to meet Julian Illingworth, the US number one who recovered from a game down to beat French qualifier Mathieu Castagnet 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 - recording his first Tour victory since August.

Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee is celebrating his third appearance in the Macau Open after reaching the final in 2000 and winning the title a year later. Now competing as a qualifier, the Penang-born 31-year-old world No33 produced a stunning upset by beating England international Tom Richards, ranked 21 in the world, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6.

"Not the result I wanted in the 'city of dreams', going down in 3, but all credit to Ong Beng Hee who was on fire today," tweeted Richards after the match.

The former world No7 now takes on top seed Mohamed El Shorbagy after the Egyptian world No8 survived a tough first round battle against Cameron Pilley - beating the world No18 from Australia 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-3.

And Spain's 'comeback King' Borja Golan also had reason to celebrate: The qualifier from Santiago DC, fighting back to top form after knee surgery, despatched England's Jonathan Kemp 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 to set up a quarter-final clash with second seed Thierry Lincou.

The formidable 35-year-old Frenchman, a former world champion and world number one currently ranked 10 in the world, battled back from 2/1 down to overcome Egypt's world No15 Omar Mosaad 11-8, 4-11, 7-11, 11-3, 13-11.