World Squash 2017: England's women players create unwanted record

For the first time in history, England will have no women's representation in the PSA World Championships quarter-finals after defeats to Sarah-Jane Perry and Victoria Lust on Wednesday.

First, Perry succumbed to Joelle King of New Zealand as the two tallest players on the circuit played out a physical 55-minute match which fluctuated in tension, quality and rhythm. King found enough intensity to prevail 11-1, 6-11, 14-12, 11-6 at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.

A backhand boast into the tin from Lust's racket then confirmed English squash's unwanted statistic - since the sport's pinnacle event began in 1979 - as Egypt's Raneem El Welily won through 3-1.

However, there will still be British participation in the last eight following Welsh No 1 Tesni Evans' fine victory over Laura Massaro, her English counterpart and 2013 world champion, in the last 16.

Rhyl-based Evans plays the biggest match of an increasingly promising career on Thursday when the 25-year-old takes on Nour El Tayeb, Egypt's eighth seed, for a place in the semi-finals.

The British theme continues through the two draws, with Mohamed Elshorbagy, the Bristol-based Egyptian, taking on Nick Matthew, the last standing Englishman in the men's event.

The last eight matches also move to the glass-fronted Manchester Central where Matthew has made it known several times this week that he wants a raucous backing when he enters the fray against an in-form Elshorbagy. The former world No 1 has been beaten just once in six tournaments this season.

Elshorbagy, the current PSA World Series champion, was in King's corner on Tuesday given that the New Zealander began to use Bristol has her base this season.

She has made three fleeting visits to the UK to work with highly-regarded coach Hadrian Stiff and King admitted that the "positive environment" created at Elitesquash's harbourside club in Bristol had helped her in recent months.

King, Evans and Elshorbagy also drove up to Manchester together from the west country and the car share has clearly paid off with the trio still in the draws.

"It's a long way from home and it takes time to find the right place for me, which Bristol is," said the Kiwi.

"When you are training and seeing each other doing it [win], it is infectious."