LAURA Massaro produced a superb performance to reach the semi-finals of the Tournament of Champions in New York.

The East Lancashire squash star had come through five game epics against Fiona Moverley and Victoria Lust in the opening two rounds but the 34-year-old swept past world No.5 Nouran Gohar in the last eight at Grand Central Terminal.

Hoghton's Massaro won 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 in 39 minutes to set up a last four clash with Egypt’s world No.1 Nour El Sherbini.

"Although I was never really close to losing either of my first two rounds, I felt lucky to still be in the draw," said Massaro.

"Nouran is an unbelievable competitor, you can see the force she hits the ball with, so I knew I had to be better today. That’s no disrespect to my first two opponents, but I’ve not been good against Nouran before and then been slightly embarrassed after.

"I wanted to put on a good show today and to be proud of myself when I finished the match."

Massaro, the number four seed Stateside, plays her semi-final at 10pm GMT on Wednesday with the match being screened live on BT Sport and Eurosport Player.