King, Coll qualify for squash singles finals
Andrew Alderson
on the Gold Coast Joelle King has delivered a passiveaggressive masterpiece to claim a place in today’s squash singles final at the Commonwealth Games.
Her only obvious brush with emotion was a cry of “yes” as she crouched with her fists clasped after the successful match ball.
The world No 4 pushed double defending champion Nicol David to the brink in a 13-11 11-5 1-11 11-5 duel.
The Malaysian wrested back some control with a dominant third game, but King had her measure and will play world No 8 England’s Sarah-Jane Perry for the title.
“She doesn’t go away,” King said of David. “Great players find a way out of a hole. She changed her game [in the third game] and started hitting the ball lower and harder.
“I wasn’t expecting it and it [the game] can just go like that. It was a case of let it go and reset.”
David was world No 1 for nine years from 2006.
The 34-year-old remains ranked ninth. She defeated King at the same stage of the tournament in Glasgow, where the Kiwi went on to take bronze.
“You have to be accurate, which was one of the major things I was thinking about,” King said.
“That meant making sure my length was tight all the way to the back, and my drops were short all the way to the front; quite simple, but that kind of game against anyone is effective.”
King caught her foot thrusting for a backhand at 6-2 up in the fourth game, but had the presence of mind to call for a successful let. David’s demise was swift from there.
Coll won an intense encounter, beating Wales’ Joel Makin 6-11 9-11 11-9 11-2 11-8 in their semifinal.
The only levity came in the third game when the New Zealander slipped on the court and the Benny Hill music made a cameo.
Makin looked fired up from the start after the MC referred to him as a Scotsman. The players traded lets and duelled relentlessly down the alleys in a match which went beyond an hour-and-a-half.
The sweat was streaming off both players as they clawed at the walls of the sauna to regain some grip for their racquets.