King Coll a merry old soul after epic win
Kiwi squash ace Paul Coll has a well-earned reputation on the PSA World Tour of being a fighter who never gives up and it’s only been further enhanced by his latest come from behind victory.
The gutsy Coll has battled back from two games down against World No.1 Ali Farag to win the Optasia Championship at The Wimbledon Club in London yesterday.
Farag, the reigning world champion, was in complete control when wining the first two games 11-8 and 11-2 but after that one-sided second game, Coll found his rhythm.
Coll, originally from the West Coast, charged back to win the third game 12-10 to stay alive in the best of five games contest and then took the fourth by the same 12-10 margin, before closing out the victory in 91 minutes with an 11-9 win in the final game to complete the epic comeback.
“I’m proud of the fight I put in,” Coll said. “It was a massive battle, I had to come back several times. I put lot of work in the off-season to get back to my fighting best.
“I didn’t feel like I had that last season,” Coll said. “I was doing all my breathing techniques, all my mental things because it was a real battle.”
Farag and Coll, the world No.2, are the biggest of rivals but friends off court and they pushed each other to breaking point during a thrilling hour-and-a- half battle.
Coll started strongly in the opening game, leading 7-3 at one stage before losing the first game.
The second game was the most one-sided of the match, but Coll trailed 7-4 in the third before fighting back to take the win.
Farag, who was observing the Ramadan fast, just missed the deadline to take on water before the fourth game. However, it didn’t seem to matter when he shot out to an 8-5 lead. But yet again, Coll fought back to win.
Farag was able to hydrate before the fifth and final game and with four straight winners he took a 9-5 lead to be just two points away from taking the match.
But true to his reputation, Coll refused to give in and fought back to take the title.
Post-match, Coll said it was the support of some of his biggest fans that inspired him when he was behind, including that of his partner Nele Gilis who lost the women’s final 3-0 to Japan’s Satomi Watanabe.
“I had my coach come down today which really helped me,” Coll said.
“Seeing my childhood friends in the front row was something special, and hearing my girlfriend who had a tough loss come and support me ... All these people around me really got me up today.”