Squash: Nicol shrugs off the heat to reach semi-finals

It would be inaccurate to say that Pete Nicol didn't break sweat as he eased into the men's singles semi-finals past Canada's Graham Ryding yesterday. He gushed the stuff from every pore, soaking his shirt to transparency and making the ritual wiping of hands against the walls a necessity between almost every point. And that was without being stretch-ed as he won 9-1, 9-2, 9-3.

"It was so hot out there, I'm just pleased to have got off court so quickly," said the defending champion and No 1 seed afterwards. "But it's good to be through to the semi-final."

In today's last four he meets David Palmer of Australia for a place in the final, which in all likelihood will be a repeat of the 1998 climax, against Jonathan Power of Canada.

The North American No 2 seed progressed to the semis late last night over Yorkshire's Lee Beachill. The 24-year-old had gone into the tournament with hopes of a new high in an career that has seen him recover from a broken back sustained in a car crash. He took the first game 9-3 but Power asserted his superiority to win 3-9, 9-0, 9-7, 9-4.

Nicol won much more rapidly. The most concerned he looked all afternoon was when his match had finished. Squash convention has it that the ball is returned to the referee when play ends. Instead of tapping it over the back wall to the official, however, he gave it a bit of whack and it shot high into the stands, bounced bang centre off the forehead of a 13-year-old spectator, Michael Goodwin, and then landed in the lad's lap.

Nicol rushed up the steps of the main seating area to make sure the youngster, a local in attendance with his parents, was okay. Luckily, he was fine. In fact he was quite chuffed. He plays squash himself and it's not everyday you can go home with one of Pete Nicol's balls in your pocket. Clearly the Manchester fans are behind the English pre-tournament favourite despite the fact that when he won in Kuala Lumpur he was representing Scotland.

Nicol described the Games as "important... but a normal tournament". In terms of sporting excellence, he was doing squash a slight disservice by using the word "normal". His event is extremely abnormal because of the quality of the field. It is, in élite terms, the best event of the 17 sports being contested at the Games. Thirteen of the world's top 15 men went into the singles draw, and eight of the top 10 women. Only the Games netball and bowls can rival this.

The women's singles yesterday was still on course to be won by the Australian world No 1, Sarah Fitz-Gerald. The 33-year-old's run of winning form, which now stretches back almost a year over 52 matches in 12 tournaments, continued with a last-eight win over England's Stephanie Brind.

Also through to the last four is Cassie Jackman, who eventually overcame her England team-mate Linda Charman 3-2 in a comic encounter. The most notable incidents saw Jackman storm off court to protest one refereeing decision and Charman receive a conduct warning for doing the same. Charman let loose a series of verbal outbursts, all at full volume with a raucous Cockney edge that belied the fact she hails from Sussex. "Are you actually capable of doing your job or what?" she hollered at one point.