KUALA LUMPUR: World No 1 Laura Massaro led a procession of seeded players into the second round of the Naza Women's World Championship in Bukit Jalil on Monday
The top-ranked Massaro, from England, had to endure several nervy moments when finding herself trailing by a game and 5-9 in the second before rallying for a 9-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-3 victory over Mexico's Samantha Teran.
Also through to the next round are national champion Delia Arnold and 2014 world runner-up Raneem El Weleily of Egypt.
A run of four successive errors by Teran in the second game allowed Massaro to overturn the deficit before coasting home.
"I thought I was going out in the first round, it definitely crossed my mind but it spurred me on," said Massaro, who won the 2013 world title in Penang.
"If I go 2-0 down here I still back myself to win but it's an absolute mountain, isn't it, in the first round of a World Championship and having to fight your way back.
"I was still confident in myself that I could win. I just tried to dig in and make it hard for her and she had three errors on the backhand side."
Massaro takes on India's Joshna Chinappa, who overcame England's Victoria Lust 11-8, 11-3, 11-5, on Wednesday.
"We played around this time last year in the British Open and I won 3-1," added Massaro. "She's obviously playing well and if I'm to progress in this tournament, the level I played is not going to be good enough."
Delia endured a testing time against Egyptian qualifier Mariam Metwally before coming through 12-10, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9 to advance past the first round of the World Championship for the first time.
"It's my first time playing Mariam and I expected a tough match. I played well, I was leading and then I lost focus and she caught up but I'm glad to have won in four," said Delia, who is up against sixth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy on Wednesday.
Low Wee Wern, however, saw her run of making the quarter-finals of the past five editions of the World Championship come to an end after an 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 defeat by New Zealand's Joelle King.
"Today is the first time in a long time I enjoyed getting back on court again," said Wee Wern, who had been sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament rupture for eight months last year.
"I have been out for almost a full year and I started playing a few tournament but this is the most enjoyable I felt."
World No 3 El Weleily, who lost a heart-breaking World Championship final to Nicol David in Cairo in December 2014, advanced comfortably past Tesni Evans of Wales 11-5, 11-2, 11-6.
"I was very excited and very nervous at the same time," said the Egyptian. "I’m happy that I managed to stay calm. I’m happy with the way I played today and I hope I can stay as focused in the next match."
RESULTS - 1st rd: Laura Massaro (Eng) bt Samantha Teran (Mex) 9-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-3; Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Victoria Lust (Eng) 11-8, 11-3, 11-5; Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Mariam Metwally (Egy) 12-10, 10-12, 12-10, 119; Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) bt Emily Whitlock (Eng) 11-5, 11-9, 11-7; Amanda Sobhy (US) bt Megan Craig (NZ) 11-4, 11-5, 11-2; Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Liu Tsz-Ling (HK) 11-6, 11-7, 11-3; Joelle King (NZ) bt Low Wee Wern (Mas) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7; Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt Tesni Evans (Wal) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6.