ALAN'S BLOG: THURSDAY

6.30pm: (2) James Willstrop v (4) Peter Barker

Followed by

(1) Nick Matthew v (3) Gregory Gaultier

Welcome to semi-finals night at Canary Wharf.

It promises to be another special evening, with the four top seeds in action and a sell-out crowd at the East Wintergarden venue.

Greetings to squash viewers all over the world who are tuning in to SquashTV.

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First of all we want to say a big thank you to musician Bazz Fazey, from Peterborough, who has composed the soundtrack for the Canary Wharf tournament. Superb stuff, Bazz. Many thanks for sharing your genius.

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First match under way and Willstrop takes the opening game 16-14. Some huge rallies, amazing winners and full use of the Video review system.

Barker was furious with himself for wasting game ball and broke his racket on his leg as he left the court.

He starts the second game with a flap of skin hanging down just below his left knee. That's going to hurt tomorrow, Pete!

Barker powers through the second game as Willstrop suddenly looks tired. His movement is extremely sluggish and Barker wins it 11-1.

Willstrop returns to the attack with some purpose in the third game and leads 7-5 before Barker constructs a run of six consecutive points to win 11-7.

The fourth game is tight before Barker advances from 4-3 to 8-5. Willstrop responds to draw level at 8-8 before the ascendancy returns to Barker, who wins the next two points before Willstrop hits a shot down the middle of the court and catches the ball in an act of acceptance that this is not to be his year at Canary Wharf.

A delighted Barker enjoys the moment as he celebrates his first ever victory over Willstrop following years of defeats in both junior and professional circles.

As his mum cries tears of joy in the front row, Barker shows his respect for his opponent by saying: "I have played James for years, ever since our junior days, and never beaten him, so tonight is very special, especially as it's here in London, and at such a wonderful venue with a full-house crowd every night.

"James is not only a great squash player but a great person and I knew it would require a massive effort to beat him."

Barker revealed that he will now have to cancel plans to travel to Paris with his fiancee to celebrate his future mother-in-law's 60th birthday.

He added: "It's a shame to miss out on a lovely trip to Paris but I hope my girlfriend appreciates the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow."

Barker apologised for breaking his racket on his leg after a momentous tiebreak at the end of the first game. "That was a mixture of adrenalin and stupidity," he said.

"I felt I should have won that first game and I had to quickly refocus for the second. I had a game plan, but I have had a game plan against James since the age of ten and I'm very pleased that it finally paid off, 17 years later."

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Sadly, Gregory Gaultioer was forced to concede his match through illness with the score at one game all. Full report to follow.