LIVERPOOL, May 11 — Malaysia's squash queen and world No. 1 Nicol Ann David made her way into the last four but Mohd Azlan Iskandar couldn't find his touch in the quarterfinals of the Dunlop British Open championships yesterday.

Nicol dropped the first game 7-9 to Shelley Kitchen but patiently wore down the New Zealander 9-7, 9-5, and 9-2 to book her place in the semifinals. Azlan bowed out tamely  8-11, 7-11 and 8-11 to Thierry Lincou.

Nicol said: "Everytime that we play, it's always tough, I know I've got to work hard against her. She came out very strong and it took me a while to get used to the different court, but I knew it was important not to lose the second game so I had to get things going as soon as I could.

"It's bizarre to see so many seeds go out, I'm just looking to get my game up for today."

While Lincou said "well done" to Azlan, the Malaysian was more critical of his performance. "I was a bit too keen tonight, I didn't let it flow," he said. "I was expecting too much of myself, maybe because we just had a big match. And that's squash for you, when you think you are on top of it, you are not...

"But this was my first quarterfinal of the British, which I got in by default and that's doing nothing for my self-esteem, but I'm gradually progressing..."

Earlier yesterday, world men's No. 10 Ong Beng Hee was stopped by homester and tournament fourth seed James Willstrop in round of 16.

After a gallant run in Friday's first round, national No. 1 Beng Hee ended his fine outing losing 9-11, 9-11 and 7-11 in 47 minutes to Willstrop.

"The first two games went to nine; I was playing well. Attacking as much as I could, I even went ahead in the second but didn't win it. He played a lot better. The crucial point was at 9-9 scores. But I'm getting back slowly," said Beng Hee, who won the Kuala Lumpur Open, his only title this year so far.

After a year's hard work and winning the Kuala Lumpur Open last March, Beng Hee returned to the world's top 10 ranking.