Palmer still standing in Canberra!

Australian No1 David Palmer (pic le) overcame a badly injured ankle to edge past Tom Richards (pic ri) of England in the 2nd round of the Australian Open in Canberra. The unseeded former world champion hurt his ankle when he fell awkwardly during his 1st round win over Malaysian Azlan Iskandar. The 35-year-old struggled badly during the 1st game and looked headed for an early exit in possibly his last ever Australian Open but he managed to 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 in 65 minutes. Palmer now has a day off for more treatment before facing 3rd seed Karim Darwish in the quarter-finals following the Egyptian’s 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 win over Hong Kong’s Max Lee. England’s Nick Matthew remained on track to defend his title with an impressive win over Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee (11-7, 11-8, 11-9) to meet Laurens Jan Anjema, after the Dutchman beat American Julian Illingworth 11-4, 11-3, 11-3.

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