Farhan Mehboob, ranked 30th in the world circuit, who caused the only upset on day one when he defeated World No 15 Adrian Grant, bowed out of the tournament losing his second round match to World No 5 Gregory Gaultier who won the match by 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 in 43 minutes.

Meanwhile, former world number one Karim Darwish claimed his anticipated place in the quarter-finals but the fourth-seeded Egyptian was taken the full distance before overcoming Cameron Pilley in the second round.

Darwish went into the match boasting a 7/0 career head-to-head record over the Australian - but soon found himself 2/1 down as 16th seed Pilley imposed himself on the match. The 27-year-old from New South Wales led 7-4 in the fourth - but Darwish called upon all his experience to recover the deficit before going on to claim a dramatic 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6 victory after 68 minutes.

Darwish, the Cairo-based 28-year-old who spent most of last year topping the world rankings, will now face French rival Thierry Lincou, also a former world No1, for a place in the semi-finals.

Lincou, the seventh seed, celebrated his 20th PSA Tour meeting with David Palmer since their first in 1999 by beating the 10th seed from Australia 11-7, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9 in 69 minutes - and edging ahead 11/9 in the pair's head-to-head tally.

The opening match of the day was an all-English clash between favourite Nick Matthew, the world number one hoping to notch up his sixth Tour title in a row in Hong Kong, and Daryl Selby, the ninth seed who made up for disappointment of a shock first round exit in the recent Australian Open by overcoming top-ranked Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar in the opening round. The England team-mates know each others' games inside out - and Matthew was relentless in the pursuit of his 11-7, 12-10, 11-8 win. - PPI