Coll beaten in world semifinals
A firedup Mohamed El Shorbagy beat New Zealand’s world No 1 Paul Coll in the semifinals of the World Squash Championships in Cairo yesterday.
The loss also puts the world No 1 ranking in doubt for Coll as the battle for the top spot continues against Egyptian Ali Farag, who can reclaim the position if he wins the tournament.
Going into the match, thirdranked El Shorbagy had looked in deadly form against fellow Alexandrian and world No 10 Fares Dessouky in his quarterfinal, while Coll had come through an exhausting 122minute win over former champion Tarek Momen.
There were worrying signs for Coll (30) in the early stages as he was caught out of position several times in opening game.
Greymouth’s favourite son sported strapping on his right knee and struggled to react to El Shorbagy’s shots at the front of the court.
After taking the opening game 114, El Shorbagy continued to play immaculate squash early on in the second.
Coll was able to drag El Shorbagy wider as the second game progressed, which allowed the Kiwi to move from 44 to 64 up.
More lengthy rallies followed, which appeared to favour a rejuvenated world No 1, who asserted himself well around the court to bring the scores to 11 with an 118 win.
The long rallies came in the third game, which was even until a fiery El Shorbagy pulled clear to have three game balls.
Incredibly, though, Coll was able to pick each one off to level and then take a 21 lead with a 1210 win.
El Shorbagy then took the fourth game 118 to force the match into a fifth game, during which the 31yearold stepped further and further up the court as the adrenaline surged and took a commanding 50 lead.
Full of confidence,
El
Shorbagy continued to balance watchful rallies with his signature brutal attacking squash, timing his attacks to perfection to seal a memorable victory with an 117 win.
The next tournament for Coll is the El Gouna tournament in Egypt starting later this week.