World squash champion Dave Palmer was last night set to undergo an operation at King Edward VII hospital after being diagnosed with appendicitis.

The number three ranked player in the world was forced to pull out of the Logic Bermuda Open Squash tournament just hours before the event began last night after falling ill.

Palmer, from Australia but a Bermuda resident, was due to take on Island teenager James Stout in the first round at the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association's courts on Middle Road, Devonshire.

However, he underwent tests on Sunday night after complaining of feeling unwell and a further examination yesterday revealed the extent of his ailment.

Coach Shaun Moxham said last night: "He had blood tests and urine tests and they didn't really pick up anything. He didn't get better through the night and so he went to the doctor this morning (Monday) who said he could not feel anything but suggested he had an echo (scan). That was done yesterday and it (the problem) was seen.

"They said it's not ruptured but it is a fair size and it's got to come out tonight."

Moxham said the player was disappointed, but there was not a lot he could do.

"It was his first time here and he was looking forward to playing the tournament," he said. "It's obviously not the start that he wanted to have in Bermuda, but on the other side of the coin these things can happen in sport. You are always susceptible to injury or illness . . . and last week, as much as he wanted to do well in Bermuda, was very important to his world ranking (beaten semi-finalist in Tournament of Champions, New York), so if it had to happen, better this week than last."

Palmer's next Professional Squash Association tournament is not until the end of April, but in between now and then he is pencilled in for a number of league commitments in France, Germany and Holland.

"He also had a couple of smaller exhibition matches and he had a promotional tournament similar to this one in Estonia," Moxham said. "We will basically have to see in the next couple of days what he can and what he can't go through with."

The coach said much depended on what happened on the operating table.

"If it goes reasonably straightforward then I think he is looking at a two to three week break, but if he has any sort of complications it could be up to six weeks," he said. "At this stage it looks like it should be straightforward because they have caught it on time."

Moxham passed on Palmer's apologies to those fans who had hoped to see him in action last night.

"The most important thing to know about David is that he is a true champion, a real gentleman of the sport. He is very disappointed that he couldn't perform here in Bermuda on his first trip," he said. "He is the first person professional league teams around the world want because he is not going to let them down. It doesn't have to be a world championship for him to play to his best ability. He is a very laid back, typical Aussie who always wants to do the best that he can."He will hopefully find some way of getting down here this week to meet the people and, if not, he will come back in the next month."

Ross Triffitt, Bermuda's director of squash and Logic Open tournament director, said the withdrawal was unfortunate but wholly understandable.

"It is a real disappointment," he said. "We had the world champion coming to compete in the event and the fact that he is unable to is obviously not what we would have liked to have seen.

"But we just hope that he is OK and, now that he is resident on the Island, we look forward to seeing him on court soon."