The 38-year-old was surprisingly taken to four by fellow Australian Joshua Southwell-Nobbs in the opening round, before coming precariously close to bowing out of the tournament in a thrilling quarter final against Scott Gardiner from New Zealand.

Gardiner had four match balls after twice fighting back from a game down, but Corren dug deep to eventually prevail 13-11, 4-11, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10.    His reward is a semifinal match against New Zealand's Joseph Watts, who upset fourth seeded Australian Josh Cardwell 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 in round two.

Williams was far more convincing in making his way through to the semis, posting a straight games win over fellow Kiwi Lance Beddoes first up and then repeating the dose against Aussie Luke Sims in the quarters.

The 23-year-old's next challenge is third seed Paul Coll, who accounted for fellow Kiwi Alex Grayson 11-5, 11-5, 11-7.

The semifinals get underway later this evening.

Results...

Round one

1)Mike Corren (AUS) def Joshua Southwell-Nobbs (AUS) 13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 (38 mins)

Scott Gardiner (NZL) def Jamie Skiffington (NZL)11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (27 mins)

Joseph Watts (NZL) def Evans Chileshe (NZL) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (21 mins)

4)Josh Cardwell (AUS) def Matiu Te Kani-McQueen (NZL) 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9 (44 mins)

3)Paul Coll (NZL) def Andrew Fraser (AUS) 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7 (36 mins)

Alex Grayson (NZL) def Chris van der Salm (NZL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (34 mins)

Luke Sims (AUS) def Andrew Ellis (NZL) 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (24 mins)

2)Evan Williams (NZL) def Lance Beddoes (NZL) 11-4, 11-7, 11-1 (25 mins)

Quarterfinals

Semifinal line-ups

1)Mike Corren (AUS) vs Joseph Watts (NZL)

2)Evan Williams (NZL) vs 3)Paul Coll (NZL)