LAURA Massaro was determined that she wouldn’t become a prized scalp as seeds tumbled in the first round of the Qatar Classic.

The world number three from Chorley eased past qualifier Mena Nasser to set up a second round clash with English qualifier Fiona Moverley later today.

World number one, Raneem El Welily suffered a shock first round defeat to qualifier Joshana Chinappa while 13th seed Dipika Pallikal - both in Massaro’s half of the draw - also fell at the first hurdle.

Massaro’s England team-mate Emily Whitlock also suffered at the hands of a qualifier as shock results were the order of the day in Doha.

But Massaro, who is seeded four in the competition, was happy to be making headlines for the right reasons.

And she admitted that seeing some of the world’s best players exit early helped her focus on the task ahead.

“It’s not good to see top seeds going out early but you can’t let the carnage going on around you affect you,” said Massaro who won the US Open title for the second time in Philadelphia last month. “You just have to prepare for your game.

“If anything it maybe makes you take every opponent a little more seriously.”

Massaro took just 23 minutes to beat her young Eyptian rival as she sealed a routine 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 victory at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Centre.

But she was full of praise for Nasser.

“I’m used to playing young Egyptians now, and Mena is obviously a good player having come through two tough qualifying matches,” said the 31-year-old.

“But she hasn’t got as much experience on the glass court.

“I was pretty happy to get a match on there to start and felt I was playing well.”

The 2013 World champion is looking to win her third tour title of the season having also won the Macau Open in September.

She now faces compatriot Moverley who was in ‘giant killing’ form herself in the first round after the 28-year-old qualifier from Hull upset the seedings to down 15th seed Salma Hany Ibrahim Having returned to PSA World Tour action in 2014 after a four-year absence, Moverley showed signs that her talent, which previously took her into the world’s top 40, remains in tack as she came from behind to seal a 3-1 win.