Anjema, though lost the second game to Aamir, won the match 11-6, 8-11, 11-2, 11-5 in 52 minutes.

Meanwhile, world number one Gregory Gaultier avoided mishap either with the sandy court or with the best player ever to come out of the United States as he reached the last 16 in his bid to win the World Open for the first time.

The 26-year-old from Aix-en-Provence also produced a controlled response when Julian Illingworth, the world number 32 from new York, made a good fight-back in the third game before going down 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3.

While mental strength was unlikely ever to be a major issue against Illingworth, the serenity which the Frenchman emanated could serve him well in tougher tussles to come.

He played the fourth game at a fractionally higher pace, increased his accuracy, and was quick to pounce when there was half a chance of applying pressure or of trying for a winner.

Gaultier might well have become deflected from his focus by the state of the court, about which Ramy Ashour - the defending world champion whom he should meet on Friday’s semi-finals - expressed concern.

Ashour played well in fits and starts while winning 12-10, 11-8, 11-3 against Omar Mosaad, a compatriot lurking just below the world’s top 20.

When it mattered in the first two games the young champion found something creative with which to win the rally, though he only exploded into something like his brilliant best after getting on top in the third.

The other two front runners for the title, the top-seeded Karim Darwish and the three times former world champion Amr Shabana, also won without alarms.

Darwish dropped the second game against Saurav Ghosal, the Leeds-based Indian number one, but was fluent and accurate enough to run away with the fourth game.

Shabana, who won 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 against yet another compatriot, Omar Mosaad, was a mixture of the languid and the deceptive, and won without playing in top gear.

He, like Ashour, was all-too-aware of the heat, though he thought it would give the Egyptians an advantage over the Europeans.

Three seeds went out, the most important of them being David Palmer, Adrian Grant and Mohammed Azlan Iskandar.

Results (second round):

Laurens Jan Anjema (NED x14) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-6, 8-11, 11-2, 11-5; Gregory Gaultier (FRA x2) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3; Ramy Ashour (EGY x3) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 12-10, 11-8, 11-3; James Willstrop (ENG x11) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-5, 11-5, 11-5; Thierry Lincou (FRA x8) bt Stewart Boswell (AUS) 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-1; Alister Walker (ENG x15) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9; Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS x12) 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8; Tarek Momen (EGY) bt David Palmer (AUS x6) 14-12, 12-10, 11-7; Wael El Hindi (EGY x9) bt Amr Swelim (ITA) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7; Hisham Mohd Ashour bt Adrian Grant (ENG x10) 13-11, 12-10, 11-9; Peter Barker (ENG x7) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-5, 11-4, 11-2; Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY x16) 9-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-3; Nick Matthew (ENG x5) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-2, 11-3, 11-6; Ong Beng Hee (MAS x13) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-9.—Agencies