World number one Farag proved too strong for England's Tom Richards in the last eight of the men's competition, triumphing 14-12, 6-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 at SECA Academy.

It sets up a last-four encounter tomorrow with third-seeded Indian Saurav Ghosal, who beat Egypt's Mazen Hesham 12-10, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7.

The other men's semi-final pits second-seeded Egyptian Mohamed ElShorbagy against younger brother Marwan, the fourth seed.

Mohamed prevailed 3-11, 11-8, 15-13, 11-8 in a tough battle with Hong Kong’s Leo Au after Marwan had defeated fellow countryman Omar Mosaad 11-5, 13-11, 15-13.

"I thought Leo Au played so well today, I think that’s one of the best performances he has played against me," Mohamed said.

"I’m pleased with how I kept pushing and that I managed to beat him and really proud of that performance.

"Sometimes at the start of the season you want some confidence in your physicality, and tough matches like these help to prove that you have trained hard and give you confidence."

In the women's event, world number one and defending champion El Welily powered past compatriot Salma Hany 11-5, 11-9, 11-4.

Next up for the Egyptian is world junior champion Hania El Hammamy after she overcame fourth seed Joelle King of New Zealand 11-9, 11-7, 11-9.

Completing an all-Egyptian semi-final line-up are second seed Nouran Gohar and third seed Nour El Tayeb.

Both saw off Egyptian team mates to reach the penultimate round, with Gohar beating Yathreb Adel 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6 and El Tayeb defeating Nadine Shahin 11-2, 11-1, 11-5.

Today's evening matches were due to take place on the glass court atop the Peninsula Shanghai, which overlooks the Bund, but poor weather conditions meant the matches had to be moved to the SECA Academy.