MANCHESTER, July 27: Pakistan’s Farrukh Zaman went down fighting against Canadian Graham Ryding 3-2 in the second round squash conest at the Commonwealth Games Saturday.

Farrukh, after conceding the first game 9-7, remarkably recovered to win the second and third games 4-9, 4-9.

Ryding came back to clinch the match, grabbing the fourth and fifth games 9-5 and 9-1.

World champion and defending champion Peter Nicol predictably crushed Nicholas Kyme, a game but inexperienced Bermudan, for the loss of just a single point to reach the third round.

This was the first time that the world number one, who had been one of Scotland’s greatest heroes, had represented England after last year’s controversial decision to change loyalties.

Nicol had had a tougher time dealing with that than expected.

He had been jostled and challenged by some people and treated as a traitor by some of the media - and now, wearing a red rose on his chest, he didn’t pull any punches in return.

“Playing for England feels fantastic,” he insisted.

Nicol’s reason for changing was to prolong his career claiming he would benefit from the better back-up and support facilities in England, and he may now have a tough test as to how effective they really are as his next opponent is Australia’s Anthony Ricketts.

Earlier another Australian, David Palmer, the Super Series champion, also reached the third round, winning 9-6, 9-2, 9-5 against Ritwik Bhattacharya, the improving England-based Indian, though Palmer also had to overcome his irritation at a late change of schedule.

The change was made at the request of Australia’s Channel Seven, which wished to broadcast Rachael Grinham’s match with the Jamaican Karen Anderson. This meant one of the front runners for the men’s title had to make way for two women, neither in the top ten.

Palmer believes that the last 16 will see some surprises, though he will need to achieve a notable revenge to get that far.

His next opponent is Alex Gough, the former World Open semi-finalist from Wales, who ended Palmer’s British Open title defence in April and who now reached the third round with a 9-4, 9-3, 9-0 win over Shahier Razik of Canada.