Top-seeded Nicol David battled hard on Thursday to reach her 11th semi-final in the Squash World Championships.
David, the first player ever to top the world rankings for 100 consecutive months, overcame Camille Serme, the world number six from France, by 11-9 11-7 13-11, in an increasingly well-contested match.
Though not always at her best David was playing well enough by the end to harbour strong hopes of regaining the title from England's Laura Massaro on Saturday.
If the 31-year-old Malaysian succeeds in that she will not only extend her all-time record of world titles to eight but become the first player ever to lose and regain the world crown in the same year.
"It was a high intensity match," she said of the 45-minute tussle. "I don't think we stopped for air at all, because it was all go. And I had to find a lot more in that third game."
David will now play Omneya Abdel Kawy in a repeat of the 2010 world final at Sharm El-Sheikh which the Malaysian won in straight games for the chance to extend her all-time record of world titles to eight.
The 10th-seeded Egyptian, possibly the most gifted touch player in the women's game, revelled in cool conditions which encouraged strokes into the front court.
After trailing 0-5 in the first game, Kawy drop-shotted and cross-courted her way to a 12-10 11-3 11-4 victory over Low Wee Wern, the seventh-seeded Malaysian.
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