TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open 2023: Coll Conquers Elias In Three Games

World No.4 Paul Coll booked his spot in the TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open semi-finals after conquering Peru’s Diego Elias in a brilliant straight-games performance.

The pair, who delivered an 82-minute thriller at the U.S. Open earlier this season, started in a similar vein, engaging in lengthy rallies which tested both player’s movements across the whole court. 

However Coll, who was the victor in their five-game battle in Philadelphia, held his nerve at the latter end of the game when the pair were locked at 8-8, forcing Elias into a pair of uncharacteristic errors straight into the tin. 

The second game continued in a similar vein, with Coll managing to win the battle at the ’T’ and push the ‘Peruvian Puma” into the back two corners. In a similar manner to the first, Elias slammed a shot into the tin at 9-7 down before another error allowed the New Zealander to double his advantage. 

Elias, who was gesticulating that he had a shoulder issue in between games, struggled to match the pace of play that Coll brought to the court in the third, with the 31-year-old partnering this with some deadly accuracy in the front two corners. 

After taking an early lead in the third, Coll never let his advantage slip, working his way to a 10-4 advantage. At the first time of asking, the U.S. Open champion took the match to seal his spot in the last four. 

After the match, he said: “I’ve been looking to put those performances in for a while now and play that aggressively and that quickly.

“Diego has been in top form and I knew that he was going to want blood from the U.S. Open so I’m very happy with that result and that performance.

“I think there were a few big moments in the match today which I knew I had to win, otherwise it could have been similar to the U.S. Open, where I lost a few of those big moments. Today I was adamant that when it was around 8-8 and it was a big point, I was going to push hard and not give him anything.”

“It’s obviously a new court tomorrow, it’s going to play different so I’ll have to go over tomorrow to see how it plays temperature-wise. It’s almost feeling a little bit like a new tournament tomorrow on a new court and a new venue.”