Paul Coll reaches semifinals in Doha
- Dave Worsley
- Oct 3
- 2 min read
New Zealand squash pro Paul Coll has had to fight hard to reach the semifinals of the PSA Squash tour Qatar Classic.
Coll, ranked third in the world beat 23rd ranked Mohamed Abouelgharof Egypt 11-8, 8-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8 in 96 minutes in his quaterfinal.
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The New Zealanderl narrowly avoided defeat to the Egyptian at the London Classic earlier this month, and once again had to dig in to oust Abouelghar overnight in Doha.
Abouelghar played some tremendous squash early but Coll was up for the challenge with the pair claiming a game each in the early stages.
However, in the third game, the Egyptian strained his achilles when stretching for the ball and was inhibited for the rest of the match.
Abouelghar’s impressive racket skills made Coll work for the win but despite the best efforts of the physio at the end of the third and fourth games, he was unable to fully recover as Coll closed out the win.
“It was a very physical match on this court, you have to do a lot of deep movements,” said the 33-year-old from Greymouth. .
“It was nice to have a clean battle that was all about the squash. I was annoyed because I had game ball in the third and shanked it into the tin. I think he did that in London, so it was roles reversed this time.
“I’m very happy with the game, I could have been a bit more consistent if I’m being picky, my length dropped off a bit and he’s too deadly when that happens.”
Coll will play Englishman Jonah Bryant for a place in the title match.
