Irving at her best in quick-fire victory

IN-FORM Liz Irving marched into the quarter-finals of the Pak Fah Yeow Women's World Championships with the straight games defeat of Germany's Sabine Schoene at the Hong Kong Squash Centre yesterday.

Australian Irving, who ended world number one Michelle Martin's 54-match winning streak in the Malaysian Open final last Sunday, took only 30 minutes to outfox Schoene 9-3, 9-4, 9-2.

Irving was a first-round casualty in the Pak Fah Yeow Hong Kong Open last year but has put the memory of that behind her and is now aiming to be the world's best.

'I had knee and back problems when I was here last year but I've been injury-free since last October after seeing a German osteopath,' said the 30-year-old fifth seed, the only person to have beaten Martin in the past two years.

'I'm training a lot less than I've ever trained but the quality is a lot better and I'm playing my best squash for a long long time.' Martin and Suzanne Horner, the number one and two players on the WISPA chart, booked their quarter-final places in late matches along with Sarah Fitz-gerald and Sue Wright.

Holder Martin beat Jane Martin on England 9-4, 10-8, 9-3.

Fourth-seeded Australian Fitz-gerald cruised into the last eight with a 9-0, 9-4, 9-0 demolition of Briton Rebecca Macree but England's Horner and Wright both advanced at the expense of the Australian brigade.

Horner downed Robyn Cooper 9-6, 9-5, 9-1 while eighth seed Wright posted a 9-7, 9-0, 6-9, 9-8 victory over Vicki Cardwell.