Men’s Worlds: Coll Eases Past Wildcard Al-Amri

New Zealand’s Paul Coll booked his place in the last 32 after easing past wildcard Hamad Al-Hamri by an 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 scoreline in just 20 minutes.

Doha-born Al-Hamri, 19, showed good touches particularly in the front left corner as he pulled Coll away from the ‘T’ at times, but the World No.5 was too strong for him as he collected a comfortable victory.

His reward will be a round two meeting with Spain’s former World No.5 Borja Golan, who beat India’s Ramit Tandon in straight games.

“It’s been a good start [to the season], there have been a couple of matches that haven’t gone my way, but I’ve learned a lot from those,” said Coll.

“I started off with a new coach in the summer time which has been really helpful for me. I’m just grooving my technique a little bit which will give me a few more options at the front hopefully, and I’m just trying to up my game to compete with those top two and top four players on a consistent basis.

“My goal has always been the same since I started, but I’m trying to tick off goals as I go, and there are only a few left. I’m still looking at the same goals, but I’m ticking off things such as top five, a few semi-finals and hopefully a few more finals.

“I’ll train all day tomorrow and keep my body ticking along. I’ll try and get on the glass tomorrow, do a gym session and keep the body moving throughout the day.”

Result
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [WC] Hamad Al-Amri (QAT) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (20m)