The twice former world champion may be 32 years old now, but he revealed an enduring appetite, tactical acumen, and a fine mixture of pace in attack while overcoming the considerably younger Wael El Hindi.
Although the Egyptian looked the fresher and nimbler in the first game, the Australian warmed to his task and got .aspx)
good starts in each of the next three games, keeping his nose in front in all three of them to win 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.
There was an exhibition feel to some of the rallies, notably when Palmer stroked three diagonal lobs and El Hindi made three diagonal dashes in a patter which had the crowd simultaneously laughing and applauding.
“It's a great venue, and great crowds, and I wish this had been around ten years ago,” Palmer said. “But it makes me want to hang in there and stay with these guys.”
He also described El Hindi as the future, and he did indeed play with the enthusiasm of a younger man, though it has taken him till the age of 28 to qualify for the event for the best eight players in the world.
El Hindi came from 6-6 with a run of four points in the first game, and closed it out with a nicely judged boast winner which faded away like a whisper.
But Palmer started to get his volleys into the attack more in the second, using his height and reach, and, as so often, proving especially dangerous in the top left corner.
When he levelled at a game all and then took the first four points of the third, the match began to change character. But it retained its humourous feel.
At 9-6, El Hindi claimed that the referee had called the previous point 6-7, gaining such a rapid “no I didn't!” that even the player looked impressed with the speed of the retort.
EL Hindi played some of the more improbable strokes, including a succession of inside-out drops, not all of which finished above the tin, and one vicious drive off the back wall which made Palmer hop anxiously in the air to ensure it missed him.
The former champion nevertheless progressed steadily to a two games to one ahead and to an 8-5 lead in the fourth game before he was halted – though it was by a semi-musical trio of notes which came from a loudspeaker system.
“Arriving at platform one,” said Palmer satirically, and after winning the replayed rally he soon reached his own destination: victory and the feeling that his match play is improving again.
He will need it too. These two play each other again in the first round at Canary Wharf next week.
Emds