Sisterly love was swept aside in the ladies semi-finals of the annual York Squash championships.

Number three seed Natalie Watson encountered her sister Katie, seeded second in the rankings, and produced an upset when Natalie prevailed over her sibling in three straight sets - 9-4 9-4 9-3.

However, the clash was a lot closer than suggested by the scoreline as was the other semi-final in which top seed and reigning champion Trish Kochaniec toppled number four seed Annette Williams 9-1 9-2 9-2.

Ann Scott, Julie Mee and Lynne Barratt all safely negotiated the plate quarter-finals, where there was a bye for Fiona Parkinson after her scheduled opponent Kath Dobson had to withdraw from the competition.

As with the men's competition all the action switches to York Railway Institute from tonight through to Saturday's climax after the early rounds were held at Clifton Park.

Tonight's order of play (at York RI):

Plate semi-finals: 6.30 Fiona Parkinson v Lynne Barratt, 7.00 Julie Mee v Ann Scott.

Updated: 12:29 Thursday, February 07, 2002