Paul Coll has been defeated by good friend and current World Champion Diego Elias in a big comeback in the semifinals of the Singapore Open PSA Gold tournament.
Coll was set to close out the match at two game up and 5-1 head before the Peruvian stormed back to take the match 5-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 in 72 minutes.
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Elias kickstarted his return in the third which will see him take on world No 1 Ali Farag in a repeat of last year’s final.
It was the 16th meeting between the pair on the PSA Squash Tour, with Coll leading their head-to-head record by 8-7 going into the match.
It was the Kiwi who dictated the tempo of the early exchanges as Elias looked off the pace and well below the level that saw him win the Qatar Classic last month.
That all changed in the third game though. Elias slowed the pace right down and that seemed to knock Coll out of his rhythm, with that 2-0 lead first being halved and then being eradicated completely as he chipped away at the second seed.
Try as he might, Coll wasn’t able to get back in front and his frustration was evident towards the back end of the fifth game when he was given a conduct warning for striking the side wall in anger.
Elias kept his composure to see out the win and will now compete in his 38th PSA final. Elias will also look to avenge his defeats to Farag in last month’s U.S. Open final and the 2023 Singapore Open title decider. A win for the 28-year-old will see him win his 20th PSA title.
Coll, 32, the current fourth ranked player in the world hasn't had the results he wanted since the PSA Tour resumed from its break in September.
He lost was beaten in the semis of the Paris Open by Mostafa Asal, then lost in the first round at the Qatar Open to Joel Makin, before a loss in the quarters of the US Open in Chicago to Mazen Hesham.
Coll's next tournament is in Hong Kong this week