Analysis: How The Hong Kong Open Was Won

18 December 2023

The final PSA World Tour Platinum event of 2023 came to an end earlier this month as the Hong Kong Open champions were crowned at the Cultural Plaza with Paul Coll claiming back to back Platinum titles and Hania El Hammamy successfully defending her crown.

Both events were hard fought and during a busy schedule, the performances of the champions were solid and strong as they looked close out the year on a high and set themselves up well for 2024.

We’ve taken a closer look at the matches that took Coll and El Hammamy to the titles as well as a few other notable matches.

Round One

32 matches took place on day one of the Hong Kong Open with 64 players looking to score wins to reach round two in the final Platinum event of the 2023. The notable results of the round came from local favourite Tsz Kwan Lau, who came through an entertaining clash with Abdulla Al Tamimi , winning 11-9 in the fifth game. Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio scored an impressive upset over Scotland’s World No.23 Greg Lobban. The Argentine came back from 2-1 down to take a five-game thriller in 53 minutes.

Round Two

Round two saw the top seeds enter the fray as players looked to secure places in the last 16. Paul Coll started his campaign against England’s Nick Wall, who scored a win over USA’s Andrew Douglas in round one. Wall possesses great strength around the middle of the court and is more than capable of finishing a ball when given the opportunity. Coll was alert to this and produced a professional performance to keep the ball tight to the side walls and always keep the ball moving away from the left-handed Englishman. After taking the opening game 11-8, the New Zealander looked physically strong as usual but looked confident and raced to victory winning 11-2, 11-6 in the final two games to win in straight games.

Defending women’s champion Hania El Hammamy was opening her title defence against bogey player Sabrina Sobhy. The American knocked El Hammamy out of the first Platinum event of the season back in August at the Paris Squash, and also defeated the Egyptian in last years U.S. Open. Sobhy claimed the first game of the contest 11-7 and thoughts of a third defeat must have been going through the head of El Hammamy. The World No.3 recovered well however to keep the demons at bay and just focus on her squash. She started to hit hard to the back corners and with a fast front wall at the Hong Kong Squash Centre, Sobhy looked to be feeling the pace which El Hamammy was relishing. The No.2 seed went on to claim the next three games and avoid a potential opening round banana skin.

Round Three

A clash with compatriot Zeina Mickawy faced Hania El Hammamy in round three. The World No.3 adopted a very high T position, both to cover the attacks of Mickawy and to be able to volley as much as possible to take time away from the World No.32. This worked perfectly throughout the whole match as Mickawy always looked to be on the back foot and reacting to what El Hammamy was doing. Despite Mickawy finding some winners, the No.2 seed was simply too strong in all areas and closed the match out in three games.

Paul Coll and Victor Crouin were meeting for the sixth time on the PSA World Tour, but for the first time since Crouin’s breakthrough win over Coll at the 2022 Canary Wharf Classic. Coll’s first match after being crowned World No.1 for the first time. Some mental scars might have still existed in Coll’s mind heading into this last 16 clash. Both players have short, compact swings and not much goes wrong technically with the pair, making it a battle of accuracy and shot selection. In two tight opening games, the pair traded blows at the front of the court with them both scoring 11-8 wins to reach 1-1. From there, Coll looked to be in the better physical condition as he pinned Crouin several times at the back of the court before finding a simple straight drop winner, played to perfection. 11-4, 11-5 were the scores in the final two games for Coll as he marched onto the last eight.

Quarter Finals

Hania El Hammamy was up first on quarter finals day and took on another compatriot Rowan Elaraby with a semi-final spot in her sights. The two Egyptians play quite similar styles of squash, with El Hammamy being the better all round athlete. The higher seed started the better of the two in the opening game, playing fast, aggressive squash to lead 8-4. Elaraby there caution to the wind slightly and found some winners to get back to within one point at 10-9. El Hammamy was able to close out the game after an Elaraby error but the momentum was with the No.8 seed.

Elaraby moved ahead in the mid stage of game two and never looked back as she played several well constructed rallies to leave El Hammamy wondering how to get back into the match. After being pegged back to 1-1, the No.2 seed responded in true defending champion style and started to stretch her compatriot into all four corners of the court and made the court big for Elaraby. El Hammamy claimed game three then motored towards the finish line finding winner after winner against a physically fading Elaraby. 11-3 in the fourth sealed the win for El Hammamy in just under an hour.

Paul Coll and Diego Elias were all square at 6-6 heading into a highly anticipated quarter final clash. Coll had won the most recent encounter during Coll’s successful U.S Open campaign, winning 3-2 in the semi-finals. Coll was full of confidence in the opening game which showed as he was willing to take Elias on at the front of the court, and was winning. The variety in Coll’s game is a refreshing change for the New Zealander and is producing impressive results. Elias looked to be carrying a slight shoulder problem but still had no answer for the squash of the U.S Open champion. Coll was disciplined, structured and positive as he claimed a 3-0 win over the Peruvian for the first time since April 2022.

Semi-Finals

For the third successive event, Hania El Hammamy faced in-form Nele Gilis in the semi-finals, looking to claim an eight consecutive win over the Belgian and reach back-to-back finals in Hong Kong. Gilis had been in great form heading into the event but had struggled to find her rhythm in the previous rounds, coming through two tough five-set matches in rounds two and three before battling past the in-form Sivasangari Subramaniam in the quarters 3-1. El Hammamy was also yet to find her best squash in the event, but the semi-finals of a Platinum event isn’t a bad place for it to turn up.

From the start of the contest, El Hammamy was on fire. The World No.3 was aggressive, patient and focused. Determined to reach another Platinum final and silence those who thought Gilis may be coming for El Hammamy’s World No.3 spot. After winning the opening two games 11-5, the Qatar Classic champion stepped up even further and continued to take the ball in short with supreme accuracy and kept Gilis running throughout the entire match. El Hammamy finished with a flourish as she won 11-1 in the third to emphatically book her place in the final.

Mohamed Elshorbagy came through a feisty clash with brother Marwan in the quarter finals to earn a place in the final four against Paul Coll. The Englishman holds healthy lead over Coll in the head-to-head and had also won the last four matches the two had played, but a very different Paul Coll awaiting Elshorbagy in this semi-final.

The New Zealander knew he would have the physical advantage over Elshorbagy as he usually does, but where he has fallen short in previous matches was his squash. That was not the case in Hong Kong however as Coll’s patterns of play and accuracy was superb. The No.5 seed’s heavy hitting to the back was always forcing Elshorbagy backwards, allowing Coll to dominate the middle and use his newly improved short game to pull ahead on the scoreboard. Coll looks to have changed his technique recently with a slightly higher backswing, creating more cut on the ball with a steeper angle of attack. Coll’s straight drop was lethal for Elshorbagy as the Kiwi took an all important 2-0 lead.

A dip in concentration for Coll in the third game allowed the 2017 World Champion to claw a game back and breathe more life in the contest. This momentum was short lived however as Coll returned to top form at the start of game four, and ran out to a 6-0 led by returning to his tried and tested straight drives, wide crosscourts and straight drops. It wasn’t long before Coll was serving with seven match balls and a beautiful backhand straight drop from deep sealed the win for the New Zealander.

Finals

USA’s Amanda Sobhy scored a terrific win over top seed and World No.1 Nour ElSherbini in the semi-finals to set up a 13th meeting with Hania El Hammamy and a first final against the Egyptian. The pair were both scintillating in their semi-final performances and a final full of quality was almost guaranteed. Unfortunately however, as the score reached 6-5 in the opening game Sobhy suffered another Achilles tendon injury which forced her out of the contest. Heartbreaking for the American who is likely to be absent from the tour for a considerable amount of time. The trophy was therefore heading into the hands of Hania El Hammamy once again, a successful defence of the Hong Kong Open title and a second Platinum event win of the season.

In a repeat of the U.S Open final, Paul Coll and Ali Farag would do battle once again with silverware on the line as the pair looked to claim the Hong Kong Open title for the first time at the Cultural Plaza. The crowd were in for a treat as the pair usually bring the best out of eachother in fair, hard fought contests.

The final opened up with several long, methodical rallies with both players trying to find the right weight of shot to both the front and back corners. It wasn’t long before the quality of the two was present and the pair were trading blows at the front of the court, setting traps for one another to fall into and find winners across the middle and in the front corners. Farag managed to steal the opening game 12-10 but Coll was growing in confidence. The Kiwi’s short game variety was once again at its best. Coll was intruding a forehand boast into his repertoire, a shot that Farag usually plays himself. This shot, added to his clinical straight drops on both sides was making life very difficult for the World No.1. Coll not only equalised 11-3 but went on to lead after winning game three 11-8.

Farag stuck to his task however and began shouting at himself after hitting winners in the opening stages of game four to spark himself up to force a fifth. The World Champion shows his fighting spirit as he managed to squeeze Coll on the side walls, either winning outright from the tight shot or winning the rally on the follow up shot. 2-2 in games for the third time this season between the two.

Coll didn’t panic in the final game and lead 5-2, reverting back to the smart squash that had served him so well in the first half of the season. Farag capitalised on some loose balls from the No.5 seed to level at 5-5 and looked as though the momentum would carry him through. An edgy end to the game remained tight on the scoreboard but Coll earned the first match ball and a chance to claim a second successive Platinum title. Farag dominated the rally at 9-10, forcing Coll into several brutal movements but still the ball kept coming back. After Coll had what looked like a final retrieval, Farag clipped the top of the tin on a forehand drop. Match to Coll. A second Platinum title of the season and a second successive win over the World No.1.