CHRIS SIMPSON has advanced to the semi-finals of the Indian Challenger No. 1 event in Chennai.

The Sarnian (pictured) is the number three seed in the PSA Tour 1.5-star tournament and has lived up to that billing. In the first round he defeated Choong Kam Hing from Malaysia 11-8, 11-3, 11-8 at the ICL Squash Academy.

‘He was quite an awkward player, very relaxed and has a good drop, but I played a basic game and I think after the first he never really had the belief that he could beat me,’ Simpson said.

Yesterday in the quarter-finals he met Indian number three and former Collegiate Champion of America Siddharth Suchde, who trains in Harrogate and stays in the same house as Simpson when they are training there.

Obviously, then, the Guernseyman knew his game very well. ‘We have had many battles in training,’ said Simpson.

‘His ranking is outside the top 100, but this is because he has many penalty 0 scores on [his record] as he has had troubles obtaining visas to go to tournaments.’

Simpson came through 11-4, 11-3, 6-11, 11-2.