LAURA Massaro survived a scare to book her place in the last eight of the Tournament of Champions in New York.

The East Lancashire squash star was twice a game down to New Zealand's 10th seed Joelle King but recovered to win 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3 in just over an hour to set up a quarter-final with Egypt's

And Massaro,seeded four at the event which is taking place at the city's Grand Central station terminal, admitted she was relieved to still be in the tournament.

"That's probably the best she has ever played against me so I have to be pleased to have come through - I'm proud of myself for that but my performance was poor," said Hoghton's Massaro.

"I was frantic. But at 2-1 down I tried to relax and make sure that if I lost I did so playing the way I wanted to and I think I relaxed a little. At that same time I think she started to feel it physically because I made her do a lot of work.

"So there's definitely a lot of relief there.

"I played very well in the first round and I maybe took my foot off the gas subconsciously and lost a little edge and intensity - which you can't do against anyone.

"But to get a win in that situation will give me a little kick to approach the quarters differently. I have no (ranking) points to lose here so I can go out there to genuinely try and enjoy it and relax and hopefully I'll play better."