Massaro moves through to semi-finals of British Open

The World Series tournament is known as the ‘Wimbledon of Squash’ and is being held at Hull’s Airco Arena.

Massaro, the 2013 British Open champion,began brightly against El Welily, taking the ball early and volleying prolifically to go one game up for the loss of three points.

After Massaro took a 7-3 lead in the second, both players squandered two game balls in the second before El Welily eventually took it on the tie-break to level, but Massaro kept up the assault in the third and fourth games to record an 11-3, 13-15, 11-6, 11-6 triumph - which will see her lock horns with 2016 winner Nour El Sherbini in a repeat of last year’s PSA Women’s World Championship final.

“My plan against Raneem is always just to work hard and try not give her too many angles," said Massaro.

"I was pretty livid after the second, [husband and coach] Danny [Massaro] and DP [coach David Pearson] were trying to calm me down. I forgot that I was up so much in the second, but I knew I definitely had a couple of game balls. I was really angry with myself because, playing a player of that level, you just can’t let leads slip.

"It was a big quarter-final. It always feels like a big match when you play Raneem, it definitely felt bigger than a quarter-final."