Derek Ryan dropped just six points in his quarter-final match at the European Champion of Champions tournament in Norway yesterday to set up a meeting with Paul Gregory of Greece in today's semi-finals.

Ryan, who beat Slovakia's Peter Janezic in the previous round, overpowered Dutch number two Eric Smit to move within one match of his second final in two weeks, following his victory at the Hartford Cup in Connecticut last week. That victory, his first in a ranking event in five years, helped Ryan move up three places to number 18 in the latest world rankings, but because the European Champion of Champions is not a Professional Squash Association event, his goal of a place in the top 16, which he last held in 1996.