Season Review: Paul Coll

New Zealand’s Paul Coll endured a difficult season on the PSA World Tour last season after claiming a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Kiwi claimed just one title throughout the season at the Canary Wharf Classic but struggled to convert chances in quarter finals and semi-finals of major events. We caught up with ‘Superman’ to get his thoughts on the season:

Summing up the season.

PC – “It’s been a very interesting season for me. I struggled a lot at the start of the season. I was pretty tired, pretty mentally drained. Obviously it was a big season for me last season, there was lots of hype and stuff which is completely new for me. I started the season with some really up and down performances. I wasn’t too happy with how I was going and mentally I was just tired. At the back end of the season, I feel like I was finding my way again, I was really focusing on my training again and starting to enjoy my training and the process.

“I think I got caught up in trying to win too much rather than just focusing on my training, which is what I love to do. I probably don’t feel like I need a break as much as I did at the start, which is normally the other way around. But now I’m feeling good. I’m back to enjoying my squash and focusing on my training and results are still not where I want them to be, but I feel better myself and like I said, I’m working on training and working on a few new things which is very exciting for me.”

On what he needs to do to return to the top of the rankings.

PC – “I was just working out the new area that I was in what to do and how to deal with it. I definitely got it wrong at the start, I don’t think I was focusing on the right things. That just led to a lot of stress, a lot of pressure internally and externally. I’m just working on dealing with that. I feel like I’m on the right path to getting that back. And like I said, I’m back to doing what I love: hard training, working on new things, trying to improve and not so much focusing on the results but focusing on on my training and trying to improve every session that I step on court to do.”

On claiming a third Canary Wharf Classic title

PC – “It came at the right time for me to find my way back I think. Again, I was working on a few things and that was a nice sort of a light to show me the way back to where I was and it came at a really good time for me. I struggled a bit after that, I got sick and few things came up. But that was a really good time for me to reassure myself. I was doing the right things to try and get back. It was a good building block to build from there and ever since then I’ve started to work on the right things again, and I’m feeling a lot better myself. I’m excited to step on court competing, I’m enjoying my squash and enjoying tournaments again and enjoying training, so it was a great tournament for me and being able to win it a third time was really cool. I love the tournament, it’s one of the most exciting on tour and a lot of people love to play it, so it was great for me to get that win, and it came at a great time.”

“I was just back to being very hard to beat. Mentally, I thought I was very good. I was very happy. The draw was pretty tough, in the best of three I had to play [Karim Abdel] Gawad and Mazen [Hesham] which is very hard. In the best of three they can put some incredible games together, I had to be right on it at every point, which I felt like I was, and everything sort of clicked. it was one of those great tournaments where you just feel like everything’s easy. You don’t have to think too much or try too hard. I just got back to myself on court, played to my strengths and tried to impose my game on the environment rather than trying to prove something or play a different style to what works for me so. It was just a nice week, everything clicked, everything felt good. I had lots of friends and support around which always makes it more enjoyable when you get those wins as well.”

On his semi-final match with Ali Farag at the Canary Wharf Classic.

PC – “It was just a good hard match. We both played in the right spirit. It was tough, it was probably one of the hardest, longest matches even though it was only 3-1. There were lots of tie breaks in there, it’s one of those matches where you really enjoy the crowd and it really gets both players going. That was a really enjoyable match. It was a clean, tough battle and those those are the ones that I live for. Win or lose, I think I would have been, not happy obviously because I would have loved to have won, but it was just a really enjoyable battle out there.”

On Commonwealth Games experience 

PC – “It was really a dream come true for me. It was very tough competing but it was just one of the best experiences of my life. Being amongst the rest of the New Zealand team and having that experience of bringing the gold medal back to the village was really cool and something that was very special and it took a lot out of me, it was a tough two weeks emotionally and physically but I wouldn’t change it. It was honestly a dream come true for me to have that sort of support from the wider New Zealand team, not just for New Zealand squash, and it was just a really incredible experience for me and it capped off the season very well. It made it a very long season because I obviously didn’t have an off season in there. But again, I wouldn’t change it for anything. It was just a really cool experience for me.”

On the Commonwealth Games final against Joel Makin

PC – “I think he played exceptionally well. Obviously, it’s the biggest stage for probably both of us. The crowd was huge, I think it [attendance] was 1,500. It was really incredible to play in front of that. I had a lot of New Zealand support and he had a lot of Welsh support there, so there was a lot on the line for both of us and credit to him, he came out and played pretty flawless squash and I had to dig deep. I managed to get the win in the end and was very proud of that performance. I don’t think it was my best squash, but it was just mentally a really good performance. I was strong, tough and fought to the end and sometimes that’s what finals are about, so that was one that I was very happy with. It was another good battle, which is what we look for in squash.”

On his best performance of the season

PC – “Obviously Canary Wharf for me was very good. I did a lot of work to flip it on for that tournament and try and get my head and my game in the right space. I did a lot of work before that to get to that level that week. We spoke to a lot of people on the mental side and the physical side, as well as the squash side, so it all clicked, which was great.

“If we’re including the Commonwealth Games in the season, then I just can’t get past that. It was, like I said, a dream come true for me and it was just one of the best two weeks of my life.“

On his goals for next season

PC – “Probably the immediate goal for me is I really want to get back to my brand of squash. I want to get back to my training and focus on always trying to improve myself and my game. I feel like I’ve started to do that especially in the last couple of months, and I’m really enjoying my training again. I’m tweaking things, I’m watching Rod Martin and trying to copy what he’s doing. I’m trying to improve whilst I’m analysing my games and doing some new mental training, which is very exciting.

“So I’m back to doing what I love doing which is training and focusing on getting better. That’s what I did before I went to World No.1. I didn’t even think about it really and all of a sudden I was there. So I was getting back to that sort of mindset rather than trying to win everything. I haven’t pieced that together just yet but it’s there. I can feel that it’s there.”