Ireland's Aisling Blake reduced local hopes for success in the NSC Series No5 Championship after upsetting Malaysia's No8 seed Delia Arnold in today's opening round of the women's $25,000 WISPA World Tour event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the country's capital Kuala Lumpur.

The unseeded 27-year-old from Sligo beat world No23 Arnold 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8 in 51 minutes and will now face Irish rival Madeline Perry in an unexpected quarter-final. Top seed Perry also ousted a Malaysian, beating Lim Yoke Wah 11-7, 11-8, 11-7.

Second seed Vanessa Atkinson needed five games to overcome Sarah Kippax - the Dutch star beating her unseeded English opponent 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4 in 55 minutes.

It was a good day for France in the men's $20,000 PSA Tour event. Mathieu Castagnet became the only qualifier to make the last eight after dismissing New Zealand's sixth seed Kashif Shuja 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 in 61 minutes.

Castagnet, from Le Mans, progresses to meet Omar Mosaad, the No2 seed from Egypt who took four games to defeat Australian qualifier Zac Alexander 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5.

A surprise all-French quarter-final clash is the result of the unexpected demise of Pakistan's Yasir Butt. The fifth seed retired injured midway through his third game against unseeded Stephane Galifi - leaving the Frenchman to line up against compatriot Renan Lavigne, the fourth seed who beat Malaysian Nafzahizam Adnan 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (34m)
[5] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-1 (53m)
[3] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 11-7, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8 (47m)
[8] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) 11-4, 11-9, 12-10 (36m)
Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [7] Yasir Butt (PAK) 11-6, 11-2, 4-1 ret. (15m)
[4] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Nafzahizam Adnan (MAS) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (31m)
[Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [6] Kashif Shuja (NZL) 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (61m)
[2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Zac Alexander (AUS) 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (50m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Lim Yoke Wah (MAS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (35m)
Aisling Blake (IRL) bt [8] Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8 (51m)
[3] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 (26m)
[6] Annie Au (HKG) bt [Q] Maria Toor Pakay (PAK) 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 14-12 (45m)
[5] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 9-11, 11-6, 11-1, 11-3 (35m)
[4] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [Q] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (28m)
[7] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt [Q] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 2-11, 11-2 (50m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4 (55m)