by Simon Daish

Standing in the Romanian star’s way in the last eight was no.15 seed Barbora Balazova a player who, on her day, can prove most difficult to negotiate but on this occasion the Slovak competitor was well and truly beaten.

Dominating the flow of the match from start to finish, Bernadette Szocs posted an awe-inspiring 4-0 win (11-7, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9) to head into the penultimate round with confidence on her side.

Superb from Bernadette Szocs and there was just as impressive an outing from four-time Men’s Singles champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who sealed his spot in the last four at Jonathan Groth’s expense.

Victorious over the Dane at last year’s event, once again Dima required just the five games to get the job done (11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3).

Lining-up in the semi-finals, Bernadette Szocs will face of against the winner of Georgina Pota and Natalia Partyka while Dimitrij Ovtcharov does battle with fellow compatriot Timo Boll in a repeat of last year’s title match.