Semis : Coll Outlasts Zakaria

World No.2 Paul Coll has reached the title decider of the PSA Squash Tour Finals presented by TWG Global for the second time after defeating World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria in testing conditions in Paris.

The pair battled through 28° heat at Centquatre-Paris, with Coll emerging the victor by an 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1 scoreline. He will now play Peru’s Diego Elias, marking the first time since 2016 an Egyptian hasn’t appeared in the men’s final.

Zakaria came into the match after dismantling 2019 champion Karim Gawad, while Coll booked his semis spot after ending the title defence of World No.7 Joel Makin.

Despite the heat, the pair engaged in some gruelling rallies in front of a packed crowd, with Zakaria unable to hold off the Kiwi after taking five of the first six points on offer.

After taking the first by an 11-7 margin, Coll repeated the trick in the second, but Zakaria dug in in the third as the 18-year-old halved the deficit.

Coll kept his focus though and moved through the gears again in the fourth, dropping just a single point as he booked his place in the final against Elias – who had a night off after his semi-final opponent Mostafa Asal withdrew through illness.

“It took a bit of time to get that high intensity and the focus wasn’t quite there yesterday, but I was a lot more clinical with my short stuff today,” said Coll.

“I lost a bit of patience in the third there, I saw the finishing line, which was a bit annoying, but I’m very happy with the fourth.

“I was trying not to leave it too short when the ball was so hot because the ball bounces more, so I had to keep my racket speed up and get the cut on the ball. I was better at that today and I was very happy with the overall performance.

“I train for this and we play tournaments that are five matches. It’s quite nice to have three days and then you’re done, so I’ll be fine.”