New Zealand's Paul Coll has been beaten in the final of the Australian Open in Brisbane by second seed Karim Gawad of Egypt.
Eighth ranked Gawad started strong showing touches of class, however Coll came back strong to force longer rallies and took the first game 11-9.
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Gawad’s response came in game two as he dominated the T and scored quickly with casual touches to strike back 11-6.
Game three was stop-start, with the lack of fluidity suiting Gawad as the Egyptian fired in winners and capitalised on errors from Coll to earn four game balls at 10-6. Incredibly, Coll saved all four of them, finding his accuracy when he needed it most to go game ball up 11-10.
This time, it was Gawad’s time to dig in, with the Egyptian showing his steely resolve to finally take the 25-minute grapple 13-11.
Coll requested a new ball between games, which initially seemed to pay off as the Kiwi took a 7-3 lead. Gawad fought back to 8-8 and was brilliant from there, dragging Coll all over the court as he earned two championship balls at 10-8.
Coll saved one but in a nerve-shredding finale, Gawad managed to play a perfect drop that stuck to the wall, beyond the despairing lunge of Coll to complete the comeback.
The score 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-9 in 83 minutes.
Coll’s attention now turns to the Optasia Championships, with the Gold-level PSA Squash Tour event taking place in Wimbledon, England, March 25-30.