TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open 2023: Coll Battles Past ElShorbagy To Reach Final

World No.4 Paul Coll became the first New Zealand man to reach the Hong Kong Open final after battling past Mohamed ElShorbagy in an entertaining four-game encounter. 

The game plan from Coll was evident from the offset, looking to find his length and accuracy down both wings on the all-glass court at the Xiqu Centre. The New Zealander did this to great effect, moving smoothly on the new surface and taking the first game 11-4. 

‘The Beast’ started to find his groove as the match entered the second game, matching Coll in the middle of the court and forcing his opponent into two successive errors when the game poised at 6-6. Despite this though, Coll regained his composure and delivered a string of accurate points to double his lead after 24 minutes of action. 

U.S. Open champion Coll let his foot off the gas at the start of the fourth, hitting three errors and a soft stroke to gift the Englishman an early 4-1 lead. The New Zealand No.1 battled back to 9-7 down, engaging in some brilliant rallies with his opponent in the process, but couldn’t stop his lead being reduced to just one game. 

The accuracy of Coll’s play returned with vengeance in the fourth, putting ElShorbagy on the back of some brutal rallies and racing into an 8-0 lead. The New Zealand No.1 didn’t give ElShorbagy a sniff as he progressed to match ball after 53 minutes of action and closed out the match at the first time of asking.

“I’m stoked,” Coll said after the match. “I was feeling really good out there today. It’s a new venue and a new location here on the harbour with a new court so I was a bit nervous to adapt to the court. I know Mohamed is very experienced and he adapts to situations very well, so I knew that I had to come out and find my length early and be aggressive like I was yesterday. 

On his upcoming final against World No.1 Ali Farag, he added: ‘Yeh, we’ve played twice this season and it has gone to 12-10 in the fifth both times, so I hope it’s 12-10 to me in the fifth again tomorrow. 

“We know how to play each other, we have played each other many times before, so it’s going to be a good battle and I’m looking forward to it.” 

Result:

[5] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [4] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3 (53m)