Squash: Chris Walker & Peter Nicol in semi-finals of men's World Open

The British pair, Chris Walker and Peter Nicol, both beat Australian opponents yesterday to reach the semi-finals of the men's World Open in Pakistan. Walker, recently promoted to world No 4 for the first time but seeded fifth in Karachi, defeated the 33-year-old third seed Brett Martin 15-10, 12-15, 15-9, 15-13 in 55 minutes. Nicol took 53 minutes to win 15-13, 15-6, 15-9 against Craig Rowland, the young player who had defeated the world No 1 Jansher Khan last month on his way to the final of the Tournament of Champions in New York. Jansher, the defending champion, took just 31 minutes to beat Simon Parke 15-3, 15-4, 15-8 and now faces Nicol in the semi-finals. Walker's last-four opponent today will be the second-seeded Australian, Rodney Eyles

MEN'S WORLD OPEN (Karachi) Quarter-finals: P Nicol (Sco) bt C Rowland (Aus) 15-13 15-6 15-9; C Walker (Eng) bt B Martin (Aus) 15-10 12-15 15- 9 15-13; Jansher Khan (Pak) bt S Parke (Eng) 15-3 15-4 15-8; R Eyles (Aus) bt Zubair Jahan Khan (Pak) 15-17 13-15 17-15 15-7 15-6.

MONTE CARLO WOMEN'S OPEN First round: M Martin (Aus) bt R Macree (Eng) 9-5 9-5 9-3; C Owens (Aus) bt J Martin (Eng) 9-5 9-5 9-6; C Jackman (Eng) bt R Cooper (Aus) 9-1 9-4 9-4; J Wilson (NZ) bt S Schone (Ger) 10-8 10- 9 9-2; L Irving (Aus) bt F Geaves (Eng) 10-9 9-2 6-9 7-9 9-6; S Horner (Eng) bt C Nitch (SA) 9-1 4-9 7-9 9-6 9-6; S Wright (Eng) bt T Weeks (Aus) 9-1 9-3 9-4; S Fitz-Gerald (Aus) bt P Beams (NZ) 10-8 9-5 9-6.