Great Day For Knight In Whakatane
The Australian favourite then looked set to take out the match at 7-3 up, before Knight reclaimed the dominance to close out the match 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9 after 88 minutes.
Fellow kiwi Campbell Grayson also made it through to the quarter-finals after a surprise win over third-seeded Wai Hang Wong from Hong Kong. Grayson cruised to an 11-6 11-6 11-3 victory in just 27 minutes.
RESULTS: Asset Finance & Easy Loans Bay of Plenty Squash Open, Whakatane, New Zealand
1st round:
Martin Knight (NZL) bt [1] Timothy Manning (AUS) 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9 (88m)
[6] Jason Mudge (AUS) bt [Q] Joshua Greenfield (NZL) 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (42m)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [3] Wai Hang Wong (HKG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (27m)
[5] Simon Carruthers (AUS) bt Dick Lau (HKG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (31m)
[8] Julian Illingworth (USA) bt [Q] Sam Atkins (NZL) 11-3, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5 (34m)
[4] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt [Q] Graeme Wilson (NZL) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (23m)
[7] Steve Finitsis (AUS) bt [Q] Yasunori Ishiwata (JPN) 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8 (40m)
[2] Cameron White (AUS) bt Scott Arnold (AUS) 11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0) (68m)