Rajiv Ouseph is through to the last four of the men’s singles at the Yonex US Open in Orange County, Los Angeles.

The England No. 1 from Middlesex, who is up a place in the world rankings to No. 22, put in a strong performance to defeat Korean seventh seed Shon Wan Ho 21-9 21-19 in 33 minutes.

Ouseph dominated the opening game but trailed 19-16 in the second before reeling off five points in a row to take the match.

The third seed will face Singapore’s Zilian Derek Wong in tonight’s semi-final while ninth seed Brice Leverdez of France, runner-up in at the Yonex Canada Open last weekend, takes on Japan’s Yuichi Ikeda.

But there was disappointment for England in the mixed doubles where European bronze medalists and second seeds Nathan Robertson (Notts) and Jenny Wallwork (Yorks) were stunned by Taipei’s sixth seeds Chen Hung Ling and Cheng Wen Hsing 21-12 21-15 in just 28 minutes.

Then Andrew Ellis (Yorks) and Chris Langridge (Surrey), the seventh men’s doubles seeds, were denied a semi-final place when Chen and Lin Yu Lang, the third seeds, edged out the England pair in a close three-game contest, 25-27 21-17 21-15.

Langridge and Ellis, quarter-finalists last week in Canada, had come back from 20-13 down and saved eight game points before taking the opener on their fifth game point.

But they were always playing catch-up in the second game and, although level at 10-10 in the decider, the Taipei pair then pulled away to book their semi-final place after 66 minutes – the longest quarter-final.

Coaches Pete Jeffrey, Kenneth Jonassen and Graham Hurrell were pleased with Ouseph’s dispay. “Raj played a very good game. He was in control from the first point. He played to his opponent’s weaknesses.

“He suffered a little hiccup at the end of the second game and the Korean had the chance to get back into the match. But Raj produced a great finish to make sure that didn’t happen.

“The semi-final against Wong will be a different kind of contest but Raj’s chances are good if he can play at the same level.

“The mixed doubles wasn’t a very good match. Nathan and Jenny never got into a rhythm and allowed the Taipei pair too much control.

“But the men’s doubles was a really good match and could have gone either way. With a bit of luck Chris and Andy could have won. It was a good performance against one of the top pairs in the world at the moment.”

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