Gaultier, a winner in 2017, is making his first appearance at the tournament for three years due to a combination of injury problems and the COVID-19 pandemic - which resulted in the cancellation of last year’s event.

And he looked to make up for lost time as the 38-year-old Frenchman claimed a 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 victory over England’s Lake.

"It felt a bit weird not to be able to do much for the past two days," said Gaultier who is due to face the in-form Fares Dessouky.

"I got to play a bit at 10pm last night, but it was not enough for me, I feel.

"I have been training very well, but at the start of the match I felt a bit flat. 

"Still, he is a very strong and talented player, very good with the racket and he is a fair player.

"I enjoyed my match with him and now I’m playing Fares in the next round."

Gaultier was joined in the next round by fellow Frenchmen Lucas Serme and Victor Crouin as they enjoyed respective wins over India's Vikram Malhotra and France's Auguste Dussourd.

One of the biggest upsets in the men’s draw saw world number 49 Patrick Rooney defeat fellow Englishman Declan James, ranked number 24, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9.

Rooney will play Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann in the next round.

Steinmann will compete in the second round of a Professional Squash Association World Series Platinum event for the first time after Spaniard Borja Golan succumbed to a leg injury in the second game of their match.

There were also wins for Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller as well as the likes of former world junior champions Karim El Hammamy of Egypt and Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia.

In the women’s event, Egypt’s Menna Hamed who has been affected by COVID-19 in recent weeks claimed her first win at a Platinum event as she overcame France’s Melissa Alves 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 6-11, 11-6.

"I had COVID three weeks ago and I was in bed for a week, so I had very little time to get prepared for the tournament," said Hamed.

"To add to that, Anna played really well, I was not expecting her to play that well and she gave me such a hard time on court.

"Today I was giving it 100 per cent despite having no expectation."

Hana Ramadan of Egypt stunned world number 18 and compatriot Nadine Shahin courtesy of a 11-8, 11-4, 5-11, 11-7 victory.

Elsewhere, home wildcards Nour Aboulmakarim and Habiba El Dafrawy saw their tournaments come to an end at the hands of Egypt’s Farida Mohamed and American Olivia Fiechter respectively.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow with second round matches.