Paul Coll beaten in London final by Asal
- Dave Worsley
- Mar 31
- 2 min read
New Zealand’s Paul Coll has gone down in straight games to world No.2 Mostafa Asal in the final of the Optasia Championships in London.
Coll had a tough road to the finals, spending more than two-and-a-half hours on court during his two previous victories over the ElShorbagy brothers, Marwan and Mohamed.
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The Kiwis fatigue showed as Asal remained happy to keep a steady pace of play against No.2 seed Coll and lengthen out the rallies early on.
It was the sudden injections of pace and power that troubled Coll the most, with Asal managing to pounce whenever the Kiwi’s length was marginally off.
The opening two games both went in Asal’s favour by 11-4 scorelines, before Coll began to match the Egyptian’s play early in the third.
Despite Coll stepping up onto the ’T’ with more regularity early in the third and looking to push the pace of play, Asal continued to cut a relaxed figure, managing to wrong-foot Coll with a number of smart shot selections on his forehand wing.
The 23-year-old dominated the mid phases of the third to sit on the cusp of victory, but then Coll came charging back. Defending champion Coll saved two match balls to reduce the scoreline to 10-8, but Asal wasn’t to be denied, sealing victory with a backhand drop into the front left court. for a 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 in 54 minutes.
