The 35-year-old Frenchman won 3-1 against home maverick Mazen Hesham to move through to the second round of this Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series event taking place in an open air glass court on the banks of Egypt’s Red Sea.

Gaultier, who beat Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad in last year’s final, had the better of the first game as he went a game ahead until Hesham, known on the tour for his shot-making talents, played some measured and controlled squash to draw level after taking the second.

While Hesham’s racket skills were on show as ever throughout the match, the world number 30 played with a newfound maturity as he rattled the Frenchman, with only a late charge from Gaultier at the end of the third game preventing him going 2-1 down.

The world number three pressed home his advantage in the fourth though as Hesham began to fatigue and he closed it out 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4 to reach the last 16.

"I knew it was probably the toughest first round and Mazen, when he is on fire, you have to be on your toes," Gaultier said afterwards.

Gaultier is now due to meet England’s Chris Simpson in round two after the world number 40 upset Gaultier’s compatriot, Gregoire Marche, while Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez was on top form as he defeated world number 10 Mohamed Abouelghar.

Abouelghar was never able to knock Rodriguez out of his rhythm and the world number 16 swept to a comfortable 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 victory to set up a second round clash with Mexico’s Cesar Salazar, who defeated English qualifier Joshua Masters.

In the women’s event,  world number two Raneem El Welily got her tournament underway with a commanding showing against rising 19-year-old Malaysian player Sivasangari Subramaniam,

Twelve months after losing in to fellow Egyptian Nour El Sherbini in the final of the PSA Women’s World Championships, El Welily put in a sublime performance that saw her set up a second round fixture with England’s Commonwealth Games silver medalist Sarah-Jane Perry.

Perry, meanwhile, showed no signs of fatigue after her exploits at Gold Coast 2018 as she stormed to an 11-1, 11-5, 11-3 victory over Egypt’s Nadine Shahin in just 17 minutes.

Meanwhile the woman who beat Perry in the final of the singles event at the Commnwealth Games, New Zealand’s Joelle King, overcame England’s Fiona Moverley in four games and she will line up against Hong Kong’s Annie Au in the last 16.

Elsewhere, world number Nour El Tayeb joined husband Farag in round two after she defeated France’s Coline Aumard in a commanding 3-0 win .

She is now due to cclash with Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy after she overturned a 2-0 deficit to defeat United States number one Olivia Blatchford.

Egypt's orld number five Nouran Gohar and England’s Alison Waters also claimed wins over Rachael Grinham and Mariam Metwally, respectively.