Amr Shabana, the most successful male player of the 21st century, kept alive his chances of becoming the oldest British Open champion of the professional era when he strode into the last eight on Thursday.
The four-times former world champion from Egypt played close to his best in the third and fourth games to win 11-5 9-11 11-4 11-6 against Gregoire Marche, an in-form French qualifier.
Shabana is 35 in two months, yet still showed more than enough movement to impose a fluidly expressive style which has made him one of the game's greats.
He also adapted well, something that became necessary when the tenacious Marche made significant headway in the second game.
"He began to suck me into his game plan, and by the time I reacted in that game it was too late," said Shabana.
"I got a bit carried away with the hitting, but after that I got back to playing better points."
Better points involved moving Marche forward without taking too many risks, and then striking the ball to a destructively accurate length.
In the women's draw, world No.1 Nicol David downed England's Sarah-Jane Perry 11-6 13-11 11-4.
This was her first outing on an all-glass court since losing her world title last month, and she dealt comfortingly well with the uncertainties of new conditions, with a crowd cheering for her opponent, and with important moments in which she let leads slip.
"I hadn't played her before, so it was a case of getting used to what she was doing with the ball," David said.
"Once I got used to a certain angle or a certain space I was settling down a bit better - but without doubt she played really well."
She next plays Omneya Abdel Kawy in a repeat of the 2010 world final at Sharm el-Sheikh.
The 11th-seeded Egyptian came from two games down and saved two match points during an improbable survival 8-11 9-11 11-6 11-9 13-11 against Camille Serme, the sixth-seeded French player.
Earlier Alison Waters, the fifth-seeded Englishwoman, and Joelle King, the fourth-seeded New Zealander, came through to contest the other quarter-final in the same half of the draw.
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