Windy City Open 2024 Presented By The Walter Family SF: Coll Crushes Asal to Set Up Farag Final

Paul Coll marched into the Windy City Open final for the second straight occasion, crushing Mostafa Asal 3-0 in the last semi-final. 

The Kiwi – champion here in 2022 when this event was last staged – has produced some outstanding squash so far this week, and continued that in his win over Asal, his most clinical performance of the week. 

The young Egyptian had needed all five games to see off Diego Elias in the quarter-finals, and that workload perhaps took its toll in what ended up being a one-sided semi-final. 

After dropping 5-2 behind early, the ‘Raging Bull’ broke the strings on his racket and headed off court to get a new one, but the change in racket did little to change his fortunes. 

The rallies were short and sharp, with none exceeding 50 seconds in the first 12 points of the match, Coll closing out game one on a backhand drop in only 12 minutes.

That front left-hand corner continued to be a successful avenue of attack for the New Zealander, with Asal struggling to read his shots and guessing more than he would have liked. 

A two-game lead for Coll was soon wrapped up, as Asal hit a backhand boast at 10-3 down and then turned to walk off court, barely waiting for his opponent to complete the rally with a successful drop. 

James Willstrop tried to rally Asal in between games, but it was to no avail. Coll steamrolled through the final game in just seven minutes and for the loss of only one point, hitting a backhand boast winner on match ball before turning to the crowd with a fist pump.  

‘Superman’ – who is yet to drop a game this week – will now play Ali Farag in a major final for the third time this season, having beaten the World No.1 to the title at both the U.S. Open presented by TRUIST and the TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open. 

“Mostafa is a really tricky opponent, so I had a clear game plan in my head, but it’s all about executing it,” Coll said, moments after victory. 

“I’m stoked with how I came out aggressively and played at the pace that I wanted to play at. I took the game to him, which I haven’t quite done in the past, so I’m really happy with that and I’m looking forward to another battle tomorrow.

“This season I’ve felt that level again [the level that took him to World No.1]. That’s some of the best squash I’ve ever played, but I’m trying to evolve as a player, I’m adding stuff and getting to a level where my squash is better than that. I just need to keep working on it and keep executing it in big semi-finals and finals. 

“We’ve [Coll and Farag] had some brutal matches, so tomorrow’s going to be the same. When it gets tough you’ve got to hang in there, you’ve seen today how he’s come from behind and in the end won comfortably. You’ve got to beat him, he’s not going to give it to you, so it’s going to be a tough match.” 

Result: 
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [5] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-1 (30m)