ANTWERP, Dec 11: Scotland’s Martin Heath claimed an unexpected place in the quarterfinals of the $155,000 Men’s World Open Squash Championship in Belgium after upsetting England’s eighth seed Lee Beachill on the second day of third round action here Tuesday.

Heath, the world No12 who has failed to progress beyond the first round in his previous six PSA Tour events, took the opening game. British national champion Beachill, ranked ninth in the world, then responded with the second before the Scot moved ahead after clinching the third. The outcome of the match hinged on a collision between the pair at one-all in the fourth when the Englishman crashed to the floor clutching his right ankle.

The referee judged that the injury was ‘self-inflicted’ and called the players back onto the court after just a three-minute break. Beachill was clearly severely incapacitated and conceded the match with the score at 15-10 7-15 15-12 7-1. “I feel aggrieved that I only got three minutes,” said Beachill afterwards. “The referee told me that he felt Martin had done nothing wrong, that I had contributed to the injury myself. I felt Martin contributed at least as much as I did.”

Heath was delighted with his long-awaited victory: “It’s great to find some form again,” said the 29-year-old from Oban. “My motivation is back, which feels great. It’s the right time too as I’d dearly like to be world champion before I finish squash. I was semifinalist last time, and felt I should have beaten Peter (Nicol) then.”

Heath now faces third seed David Palmer, the Australian who is based in Antwerp. Palmer had to fight back from a game down before beating Egypt’s Amr Shabana 6-15 15-11 15-3 15-11 in 50 minutes.

The other quarterfinal line-up was also decided after two four-game third round matches. Second seed Jonathon Power, the 1998 world champion from Canada, overcame a first game deficit to beat England’s Chris Walker 12-15 15-5 15-3 15-7 in 50 minutes, while France’s sixth-seeded Thierry Lincou needed 64 minutes to quash Egypt’s former world junior champion Karim Darwish 15-9 3-15 15-6 15-12.

RESULTS: 3rd round:

(11) Martin Heath (SCO) bt [8] Lee Beachill (ENG) 15-10, 7-15, 15-12, 7-1 ret. (60m) [3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [15] Amr Shabana (EGY) 6-15, 15-11, 15-3, 15-11 (50m) [6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [12] Karim Darwish (EGY) 15-9, 3-15, 15-6, 15-12 (64m) [2] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [14] Chris Walker (ENG) 12-15, 15-5, 15-3, 15-7 (50m).—WSF