Paul Price and Clive.I Leach battled through a pulsating encounter with Graham Bassett and Ian T.Power to book their place in the semi-finals of the U.S Open Doubles Championship at the Philadelphia Country Club.
Number one seeds Price and Leach were given a major scare by their unseeded opponents, as they narrowly lost the second and third game to trail 2-1 in Gladwyne.
True to form however, Price and Leach fought back valiantly and managed to avoid a major scalp by triumphing 15-12, 12-15, 13-15, 15-5, 15-11 in the longest match of the day.
The duo will now face Matt Jenson and Preston B.Quick, after the pair overcame a second game blip to win 15-7, 7-15, 15-10, 15-12 against Jonny P.Smith and Gregory O.Park.
The Australian duo and joint world number ones, Damien Mudge & Ben Gould, are absent from the $25,000 event, giving the likes of Yvain Badan an opportunity to close the gap at the top of the world rankings.
Ironically though, number two seeds Badan and Mane Marthur lost convincingly in straight games to John Russell and Freddie Reid – thereby ending the Swiss-born Badan’s hopes of finishing the year on top.
Russell and Reid will now face number three seeds Imran Khan and Mark Chaloner for a place in the final, after the Pakistan and Grand Cayman-born players advanced 3-1 at the expense of Carl J.Baglio and Jeff Osborne.
Semi-Final Draw:
[1] Paul Price / Clive I.Leach v [4] Matt Jenson / Preston B.Quick
[3] Imran Khan / Mark Chaloner v John Russell / Freddie Reid
Quarter-Final Results:
[1] Paul Price / Clive I.Leach 3-2 Graham Bassett / Ian T.Power 15-12, 12-15, 13-15, 15-5, 15-11
John Russell / Freddie Reid 3-0 [2] Mane Mathur / Yvain Badan 15-14, 15-7, 15-6
[4] Matt Jenson / Preston B.Quick 3-1 Jonny P.Smith / Gregory O.Park 15-7, 7-15, 15-10, 15-12
[3] Imran Khan / Mark Chaloner 3-1 Carl J.Baglio / Jeff Osborne 8-15, 15-9, 15-8, 15-10