Derek Ryan reserved the best result of his season for the opening round of the Nivea for Men Irish Squash Open at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club last night when he beat fourth seed and world number five Paul Price of Australia in five sets after one hour, 35 minutes on court.

The Irish champion, who has struggled with his form for much of the past year, rose to the occasion on home turf to oust Price, one of the rising stars on the professional circuit.

After edging a closely fought first set 17-16, Ryan regained the match lead in the third after Price had levelled by taking the second 15-9.

The Australian fought back tenaciously to square the match again, winning the fourth game 15-6, but Ryan dug deep to cap a superb gutsy performance, taking the deciding set 15-11 in front of a thrilled home crowd.

The victory was a sweet one for Ryan, who was bitterly disappointed to lose out in the first round of last year's tournament.

The Dubliner's quarter-final opponent will be world number seven John White of Scotland (they meet in the second match of this evening's session, which begins at 6.0) who beat Nick Taylor in five sets yesterday.

Defending champion Peter Nicol eased into today's quarter-finals with victory over England's Mark Chaloner.

Nicol, the Scot who created a stir in March by switching allegiances to England in order to benefit from their superior squash grant and support programme, saw off the challenge of Chaloner in three sets, winning 15-9, 15-10, 17-14.

Fifth seed Simon Parke was the first round's chief casualty, losing in four sets to qualifier and fellow English man Lee Beachill, but Scottish seeds John White and Martin Heath survived the challenge of Nick Taylor and Joseph Kneipp.