Paul Coll Beaten In Semifinals By World No.1 In Manchester

New Zealand squash pro, Paul Coll has been beaten in the semifinals of the Manchester Squash Open by world No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy of Egypt.

It was a match which had plenty of drama as well as spectacular shot making and once again proved Coll, 28 is among the best in the world.

It was a high-quality, tactical encounter which saw both players explore all areas of the court in some intense exchanges.

Coll ranked fifth in the world took the game the full distance fighting back from a game down to set up a nail-biting decider, where it was tight until ElShorbagy went three match balls up.

There was plenty of tension and a number of difficult let calls as well as the trademark Coll full length dive. The Egyptian thought it was a double bounce, Coll wasn’t sure and the video decision proved inconclusive, meaning the tie-break continued amid some confusion

Eventually, ElShorbagy finally found a winner to put Coll away by the lengthy scoreline of 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7 in 85 minutes.

The Manchester tournament was the first PSA event since the six month Covid-19 enforced shutdown.

Coll and fellow Kiwi Joelle King will now travel to Cairo to play in the World Tour Finals (top eight player) tournament starting in a week.