Joelle King and Jaclyn Hawkes won their first round matches at the prestigious US$77,000 Hong Kong Squash Open but Kiwi men's qualifier Martin Knight fell to world No 1 Nick Matthew of England in the men's US$145,000 draw.
King, the tournament's ninth seed, fought hard to defeat qualifier Misaki Kobayasji of Japan 11-8 11-6 10-12 12-10 in 47 minutes. She now plays eighth seed Annie Au from Hong Kong.
Hawkes beat English qualifier Tania Bailey 11-2 12-10 11-8 and will face third seed Rachael Grinham of Australia in the second round.
Knight lost to Matthew 11-6 11-4 11-7. New Zealand qualifier Kylie Lindsay will face 13th seed Low Wee Wern of Malaysia tonight.
