Top seeds Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini of Egypt will compete in the semi-finals of Qatar’s premier international squash event.

Reigning world number one Ali Farag has defeated Switzerland’s Mueller Nicolas in straight games to book a spot in the semi-finals of the ongoing QTerminals Qatar Classic squash tournament on Thursday.

The 32-year-old Egyptian has lost just one game en route to the last four so far at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.

Looking to defend his QTerminals Qatar Classics title, Farag had qualified for the quarterfinals defeating fellow Egyptian Soliman Youssef 3-1 in the second round, after kicking off the tournament in style with a win on the opening day.

Local favourite Abdulla Al-Tamimi, meanwhile, crashed out of the tournament after suffering a 3-1 loss against Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad on Wednesday.

In the women’s category, last year’s finalists Hania El Hammamy and Nour El Sherbini met the expectation to secure qualification in the final four.

El Sherbini, currently the best-ranked female player, defeated England’s Georgina Kennedy 3-1 in her closest match in Doha this year.

El Hammamy, the defending Qatar Classic champion, defeated Belgian Gilis Tinne 3-0 on Thursday to get a step closer to retaining her title.

All four semi-finals of the tournament will be played on Friday with both male and female finals set to be held on October 5.

As part of the Professional Squash Association’s World Tour, Qatar Classic falls in the platinum tier and offers crucial 2,750 ranking points to the winner, making it one of the most important tournaments in the squash calendar. 

This year’s winner in each category of Qatar Classic’s 21st edition will also get an increased prize money of $215,000.