Paul Coll v Ali Farag: The Battle For World No.1 Continues…

Along with the sport’s biggest prize, the PSA World Championships crown, the battle for World No.1 rages on this week, with the possibility of both Paul Coll or Ali Farag being at the summit of the World Rankings come the start of June.

Coll became the first male Kiwi to reach the top of the PSA World Tour tree, when he took over the World No.1 spot in March. That was down to an incredible run which saw him pick up his first major crown at the 2021 Allam British Open, followed by further wins at the Canary Wharf Classic, CIB PSA Open Black Ball and the Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family. He also followed it up with his second victory in Hull, retaining the Allam British open title in 2022.

Meanwhile, after picking up a second PSA World Championships title last summer, Farag then went on to win both the Oracle NetSuite Open and CIB Egyptian Open, but did then not win again until 2022. The Egyptian picked up his form to claim the Houston Open, Optasia Championships and J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions titles, all Gold level crowns.

The pair have met six times over the last 12 months, with the first of those coming in last year’s final in Hull, where Coll finally got his hands on a major trophy. Farag then beat the New Zealander in San Francisco and at the Pyramids, but the current World No.1 took the titles in Canary Wharf, Cairo and Hull for a second time, beating Farag on those three occasions.

For Ali Farag to become World No.1

– Farag wins World Championships AND
– Coll fails to reach World Championships final


For Farag to return to the top of the World Rankings in June, he would have to retain his PSA World Championships crown and win the sport’s biggest tournament for the third time. Even if he does take the victory in Cairo, the World No.1 spot is not guaranteed. Coll would have to lose out in the semi-finals of the tournament for Farag to reach the summit once more.

Thanks to his J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions victory in New York City, Farag’s points tally can improve to a high of 1771.0, but only if he is to take victory in Cairo this week, keeping hold of the points gained from winning the same event in 2021.

For Paul Coll to remain World No.1

– Coll reaches World Championships final

If Coll fails to reach the final of the PSA World Championships, then it would allow Farag the chance to claim top spot in the World Rankings. However, if the Kiwi makes it to the final, then he will be guaranteed of being World No.1 for another month at least. He would have 1,828.6 points if he was to finish runner-up, but would extend his lead at the top to 1,937.1 if he was to claim the sport’s biggest title.

You can watch all the action live from the PSA World Championships this week on **, and if you are unable to watch, you can also keep up to date with live scores from the tournament *here*.