Sarah-Jane Perry reached a maiden PSA Tournament of Champions semi-final ©PSA

Second seed Raneem El Welily suffered a surprise defeat in the quarter-final stage of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tournament of Champions at New York's Grand Central Terminal.

The Egyptian was the clear favourite heading into the women's last eight clash against England’s Sarah-Jane Perry, as the 2015 winner continued her pursuit of a second title at the event.

Fresh from a shock win over last year’s runner-up Amanda Sobhy of the United States, Perry would storm into a 2-0 game lead over her opponent to move to the brink of a first semi-final appearance at a PSA World Series tournament.

El Welily battled back into the contest by winning the next two games to force a decider, but Perry regained control to wrap up a 11-7, 12-10, 10-12, 5-11, 11-5 victory.

"That’s my first win over Raneem, to reach my first ever World Series semi-final, and I get to play here again inside Grand Central Terminal tomorrow - so I’m very pleased and very proud," said Perry.

"I’ve been working hard on and off court for the past year and I’ve got more confidence and belief in myself.

"And having that self-belief is imperative at this level because I was 2-0 up and all of a sudden she was back and I was down in the fifth."

England are assured of representation in the final as Perry will face her compatriot Laura Massaro in the last four.

The number four seed was a 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 winner against Egypt’s Omneya Abdel Kawy in their quarter-final showdown.

Nour El Sherbini was the only one of Egypt's four women's quarter-finalists to progress ©PSA
Nour El Sherbini was the only one of Egypt's four women's quarter-finalists to progress ©PSA

A tough day for Egypt continued as Nouran Gohar was beaten 11-5, 9-11, 14-12, 11-9 by France’s Camille Serme.

Defending champion Nour El Sherbini would be the only Egyptian to progress to the women’s semi-finals, with her 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 13-15, 11-8 win over Malaysia’s Nicol David seeing the top seed set up a clash against Serme.

The final two men’s quarter-finals also took place today with Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt recovering from a sluggish start to beat Simon Rösner of Germany 2-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8.

Gawad will play James Willstrop in the last four, after he beat New Zealand’s Paul Coll 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, just days after ending a 19-match losing streak to fellow Englishman Nick Matthew.

Defending champion Mohamed Elshorbagy of Egypt and France’s Gregory Gaultier will clash in the second semi-final, with both players progressing yesterday.