New Zealand’s Paul Coll has had a difficult loss in the Paris Squash Open semifinal after failing to convert a two game lead against Egypt's Mostafa Asal.
Asal who won the recent season-opening Egyptian Open title, set up another finals place after a comeback victory against Coll 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5.
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It was Coll who came out the sharper of the two players, hitting aggressively and feeding on the loose balls which Asal presented to him.
Asal lacked discipline in his attacks during the opening two games, opening up the court too often and too early in rallies, with Coll seizing the opportunity.
However, after Coll took the opening two games, there was a change in approach from Asal, with the Egyptian becoming more patient in his construction of rallies.
With Asal a player who consistently troubles Coll with his play the Egyptian worked his way back in the match using tactics which at times frustrated the Kiwi.
The new approach, combined with the stop-start nature of the match which took momentum out of Coll’s play, saw the Egyptian draw parity and force a deciding game after just under an hour of play.
From 8-3 up in the final game, Asal made no mistake to convert the victory, closing out the match after 83 minutes of play.