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Kiwi Out In British Open Second Round

Thursday 23 March 2017, 11:30AM

By dave worsley

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New Zealand’s Paul Coll has been beaten in the second round of the prestigious British Open squash tournament held in Hull, England this morning.

 

Coll ranked 16 in the world lost to the eighth seed Tarek Moman of Egypt 11-6 11-9 20-18  in 62 minutes

 

Despite the loss Coll, 24 should still see his ranking improve and gained some confidence form his first round match but he’s not happy about the loss.

 

“I wasn’t feeling my best on court. if I had sneaked that third game he was looking a bit tired, so who know what could have happened, it’s a bit frustrating to let that slip, but tomorrow is another day. I would have liked the win today. it’s still good to make the second round and hopefully move me a couple of spots up the rankings but we’ll just see how it goes from now on,” said Coll.

The Kiwi had beaten Momen last time they played, the final of December's St George Open however it was the Egyptian who made fewer errors on this occasion.

After Momen took the first game in fairly straightforward fashion the second saw momentum turned upside down as Coll stormed out to a 6-0 lead before a lapse of concentration allowed the Egyptian to find a way back into proceedings.

Momen made the most of the opportunity, coming back to level at 7-7 before taking it 11-9 to set up what was to be a mammoth third game that saw the pair trade points as Coll tried to gain an edge and use his physical strength to turn the tide.

After levelling at 11-11 they fought to 18-18, when it was Momen who edged the vital exchanges to seal the victory and move into the quarter-finals.

The Egyptian was in high praise of Coll who he called a rising star of the game.

“I didn’t think it was going to end, but I’ve had experience with those types of games against Paul,” said Momen. “Paul has been a rising star on the PSA World Tour and he’s become the person to beat because he’s physically unbelievable. He’s so fit, his reach is ridiculous he gets to every ball and now he has a really good touch to the front corners and a very good basic game. So you have to play really, really well to beat him.”