New Zealand’s Paul Coll has eased his way into the semifinals of the 2023-24 PSA World Tour Championships, beating former, Egyptian, now English player Mohamed ElShorbagy.
Coll has never won the World Championship having finished as runner-up in 2019-2020 in Doha, Qatar.
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However, the two-time British Open winner was in top form against ElShorbagy winning in just 28 minutes making the rallies physical in a tight opening set where the Englishman saved two match balls before the match became more straightforward.
ElShorbagy appeared to tire in the second, making more errors as Coll took the game.
The third game followed quickly as ElShorbagy went for winners, frequently finding the tin. That handed Coll a 14-12, 11-6, 11-2 win.
“I didn’t want to get tied down on the backhand, he’s so accurate there and hard to compete with,” said 32-year-old Coll.
“I had to shift it at the right times and attack him when I could. At 10-8 up [in the first game], he came at me like a rocket, so it put me on the back foot, which I knew he was going to do at some stage because he’s so good at changing styles and aggression. I managed to sneak that game, which I think was pretty crucial.
“I was never easing up, I wanted to keep it quite open and physical. I’m very happy with how I handled the conditions and he’s always made me a bit nervous playing him, so I’m happy with that win.”
World No 2 ranked Coll now takes on third ranked Mostafa Asal in what is always a challenging match in Egypt.