14 May 2006

Canada's Shawn Delierre introduced unexpected North American interest in the last four of the Atlanta Open when he upset fourth seed Ritwik Bhattacharya in a five-game marathon at the Concourse Athletic Club in Atlanta, USA.

The 23-year-old from Montreal survived a fight back by the Indian number one to win 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0), 7-11, 4-11, 11-7 in 116 minutes.

Fifth seed Delierre now faces England's Alister Walker for a place in the final. The No2 seed from Leeds in Yorkshire beat Australia's seventh seed Timothy Manning 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.

Top seed Gavin Jones recovered from a game down to beat USA's Christopher Gordon 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7. The Welshman will meet Mexico's third seed Eric Galvez in the other semi-final.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Gavin Jones (WAL) bt [8] Christopher Gordon (USA) 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7
[3] Eric Galvez (MEX) bt [6] Bernardo Samper (COL) 11-3, 11-7, 11-2
[5] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [4] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0), 7-11, 4-11, 11-7 (116m)
[2] Alister Walker (ENG) bt [7] Timothy Manning (AUS) 11-5, 11-7, 11-5