Former world champion David Palmer gave his adopted country plenty to cheer about with a hard-fought victory over gutsy Olli Tuominen last night.

After losing the first set, the Australian ? who took up residency here last year ? rebounded to advance to today's Bermuda Open quarter-finals with a gripping 9-15, 15-9, 15-12, 12-15, 15-9 success over the Finnish qualifier.

Had he been in the sparkling form that swept him to the pinnacle of squash in 2001-2002, Palmer would probably have put himself out of his misery when he had a 7-2 advantage on his rival in the fourth set.

However, now returning to the global scene after being sidelined by a recurring injury to his right knee, the 27-year-old was initially sluggish and seemed to take some time getting into stride. Even so, his moments of brilliance were sporadic, thus keeping Tuominen in with a chance until the winner pulled away decisively in the final set.

"At the end of the day it's a win so you can't be too disappointed but it wasn't great," conceded Palmer, breathing hard well after claiming the final point.

"I'm coming back from injury and I'm still trying to find my game. I haven't got the match practice I would have liked before a tournament.

"Obviously, I'm not as sharp and fast as I would normally be and I'm trying to find my footwork since I haven't played much in the last three months.

"We've played each other a number of times and we know each other's games. He put me under pressure and played well so it wasn't easy.

"I probably thought I should have won 3-1. I was 2-1 up (in sets) and 7-2 up (in the fourth set) and I just got a bit slack and let him back in."

The Open's sixth seed said when the game was not going his way he tried to rely on the basics and being consistent. Still, things didn't always work out and when he "got tired in patches" he found himself hitting "short too early".

"I was happy to get back to hitting deep in the last half of the last game. Finally, he (Tuominen) made some errors. He was going for a lot of shots all night and it wasn't until the last ten minutes that he started to miss a few," explained the 2002 world champion, expressing delight at closing out the match on a canter.

Bermuda's adopted son noted the fixture was like "playing in front of a home crowd" and he fed off fans' energy and encouragement. Amid the bliss of making it into the final eight, Palmer acknowledged he must raise his play if he is to oust another squash icon, Englishman Peter Nicol, and reach the semi-final.

"In the first round you can be a little bit off and still get through that's how I got through tonight. Tomorrow I need to come out firing and give it my best shot," he added.

"I was playing well in patches but obviously I can't afford lapses against the better players. I'm still here and I give myself an outside chance of doing well.

"It's one match at a time and now I just need to have a good recovery and concentrate on tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Tuominen was happy with how he played despite defeat. The 24-year-old qualifier noted it was only in the fifth set that he faltered badly ? because he was somewhat nervous ? and allowed Palmer seize the initiative.