Lucy Turmel fought her way to a five-game win over young Egyptian Hana Ismail on quarter-finals day at the Monte Carlo Classic, a day which also featured a dominant display from Joshna Chinappa.

Turmel is the defending champion here in Monaco and is this year’s No.2 seed, sitting 57 places above the 19-year-old Ismail in the world rankings. But Ismail has undoubtedly been playing at a level above her ranking in recent weeks, reaching two finals and the London Open semi-finals already this season.

Key to her success has been her hard-hitting style and dominance around the middle of the court, but she was unable to showcase much of that in game one, as Turmel kept the ball tight and eased to an 11-4 win.

The power and precision soon returned for Ismail as she took game two 11-9, but Turmel was back in front again after three, controlling proceedings and forcing errors from her opponent’s racket.

The tide turned once again in game four as Ismail raced into a 10-5 lead, and while the first three games balls came and went – with a backhand kill into the tin prompting a look of frustration – she would still force a decider, as Turmel found the tin on a forehand drop.

Despite falling short in game four, those saved game balls perhaps gave Turmel some momentum as she was quickly 5-1 in game five, and while Ismail fought back to lead 7-6, the No.2 seed would come up clutch in the closing stages.

She reeled off the next four points to bring up match ball and left a forehand drop wonderfully short on the following rally, leaving Ismail unable to flick her return above the tin.

Turmel will now face No.3 seed Tesni Murphy in an all-British semi-final, after the Welsh No.1 got the better of another Egyptian – Hana Ramadan – in straight games to open the day’s play.

The two matches that followed Turmel and Ismail also finished 3-0, including a sensational display from Chinappa. The former World No.10 – playing just her second PSA Tour event in the last 12 months – battled to a thrilling five-game win over Melissa Alves in round two, setting up a quarter-final matchup with England’s Alicia Mead.

Chinappa’s lack of activity in recent months left several spectators inside the Stade Louis II unsure of how the match would play out, but the Indian star put on an outstanding showcase of accuracy to all four corners, easing to a 3-0 victory in just 24 minutes.

The day was rounded out by a similarly comfortable win for top seed Sarah-Jane Perry over Finland’s Emilia Sonia, setting up a semi-final showdown between two of the most experienced players on Tour – Perry and Chinappa.

The pair have faced off nine times before on the PSA Squash Tour, most recently back in 2021, with Perry having won seven of those previous nine.