The men's second seed led 11-4, 11-2, 2-0 in his all-Egyptian third-round match at the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Platinum event when opponent Mohamed ElSherbini retired hurt.

Farag should therefore be well rested come his quarter-final on Wednesday (September 15), when Mazen Hesham will be his opponent.

Hesham too came through an all-Egyptian match today, playing at New Giza Sporting Club, although needed 66 minutes and all five games to secure an upset win.

Hesham faced sixth seed Karim Abdel Gawad - a man he knocked out of this event in 2020 - and recovered from losing the opening game to triumph 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6.

Fifth seed Marwan ElShorbagy, another Egyptian, needed just 31 minutes to beat India's Ramit Tandon 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 - a stark contrast to his last-eight opponent's 87-minute victory.

New Zealander Paul Coll was twice pegged back by home player Mohamed Abouelghar - described by Coll as "probably the toughest round-three opponent you could get" - in a gruelling encounter.

Yet Coll stayed with his task and was ruthless in game five to win 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5.

Coll won the last PSA World Tour event, the British Open.

All four seeded players were victorious in the women's tournament today, with Amanda Sobhy winning the pick of the ties.

Sobhy lost the opening two games in an all-American clash with Olivia Clyne - including one that needed a 17-point tiebreak - but fought back, winning 9-11, 18-20, 11-2, 11-2, 11-8.

Egypt's seventh seed Salma Hany - a straight-games winner - awaits in the last eight.

Second seed Nouran Gohar also won in three games and Hania El Hammamy in four to set up an all-Egyptian last quarter-final.