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Laura Massaro reached her sixth Allam British Open semi-final on Friday with a superb performance to beat higher-seeded Egptian Nour El Tayeb.
The England No. 1 will be the last remaining home hope still in with a shout of winning the sport's oldest tournament after Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters bowed out of the women's singles.
Defending champion Massaro was in majestic form as she managed to combat El Tayeb's flair and expansive game in straight games and set up a riveting semi-final showdown with another Egyptian, World No. 1 Nour El Sherbini.
Massaro's quickfire 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 victory will also mean she goes in fresh with her meeting with El Sherbini after spending only 62 minutes on court in her last two matches.
The 34-year-old was 10-5 up in the opening game as El Tayeb saved four games before Massaro's volley kill thwarted a tie-break.
The Lancastrian then came back from 7-3 in the second to rattle El Tayeb's mindset as she atoned for her US Open semi-final defeat last October to the eventual champion.
Massaro said:
"It seems to be the theme of my season to go up and then down and soft. It's 100 per cent mental. At 7-3 down I thought 'why not? Why can't I go to 2-0 for a change and then hang on and battle in the third?'"
"I was so up for today. I've done nothing but think of this match since my last victory. I've also had one eye one on this match since the draw came out without being direspectful to my two opponents.
"She is part of the reason why I've been training so hard because of how she is changing the game and what she's bringing to it."
Earlier, Alison Waters remained upbeat as her season finished at the quarter-final stages following defeat, albeit a thrilling one, against Egypt's Nour El Sherbini, the World No. 1 and top seed.
Waters was beaten 6-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-7, 11-5 in an entertaining 58-minute clash as the Egyptian had to battle from 2-1 down to stake her berth in Saturday's semi-finals.
Waters said:
"We both played well and some of the best squash I've played all season. To go to five with the world No. 1 is great but it was disappointing and I had chances.
"She played really well and a couple of times I thought I had her, but she retrieves balls that others normally wouldn't. And she gets it back with interest and you then have to go again."
Waters' defeat ended her hopes of reaching the season-ending World Series Finals in Dubai, but she admitted that it also left her with many positives to take into the summer.
"But it's a real positive for me and something I can work on over the summer and come in to the new season with confidence.
"Over the last six months I have changed a few things and if I can relax into next season, hopefully I can push these girls further."
Sarah-Jane Perry also lost out to a higher-seeded Egyptian in the form of Raneem El Welily.
The second seed was on fire against the Commonwealth silver medallist as she showed some sublime skill to end the hopes of last year's runner-up.
El Welily won through 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4 as Perry lost her way in the final two games, but can still be content on another fine season, highlighted by her Gold Coast podium finish last month. El Welily will play France's 2015 champion Camille Serme, who beat Wales' Tesni Evans in a classic five-game battle.
