Paul Coll Makes Final In London While Joelle King Is Beaten In Cairo

Paul Coll is through to a second final in as many weeks, after beating Mathieu Castagnet in the semis of the Canary Wharf Classic.

Castagnet won the event in 2016, and he had been on a giant-killing run up to the semi finals, dispatching world No.5 Simon Rösner, and the tournament’s No.7 seed, Fares Dessouky.

However, the Frenchman was unable to reach the final again, as the world No.7 defeated him in straight games at London’s East Wintergarden.

The New Zealander will play in a second final in a week, after losing out to Diego Elias in the Canada Cup last Sunday.

“We have never played on the PSA Tour before but I watched him all week, and I knew I was in for a tough battle,” Coll said. “I went on court pretty relaxed tonight. I am just trying to enjoy the occasion and enjoy my squash at the moment, but I knew it was going to be a really tough match, and mentally I had to focus right to the end because he digs in deep and fights all the way.”

In the end Coll won in straight games 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 in 47 minutes and will now face third ranked Tarek Momen from Egypt for the title. The Egyptian has a 3-2 win/loss record against the Kiwi with matches shared in their last two encounters.

“I am going to have my work cut out for me tomorrow, but I am looking forward to the challenge against one of the top players in the world. I am just going to have to be really alert, you know. He is taking it in so well, with lots of angles and lots of severity. I am going to have to really watch him and be careful where I leave the ball on the court because he can put it away. He is one of the best in the world at putting the ball away.”

Meanwhile reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini booked herself a place in her third successive final after she downed New Zealand’s world No.5 Joelle King in straight-games at the Black Ball Cairo Open PSA Gold tournament.

King was the only non-Egyptian in the semifinals of the tournament and staged a comeback in the third game, but it was never enough as El Sherbini won

11-7, 11-4, 12-10 victory in 34 minutes.

“I think I started to settle a bit in the third. But to be honest, in the first two games, I didn’t see much! “And if in the third I started to be able to see what she was doing, it was a bit too late to start, 2-0 against somebody like Nour.

“She plays quite differently from any other player I find, she plays the ball at the last minute, she varies her pace amazingly, and today, she was reading my movement very well. They say sometimes you learn more from your losses than from your wins. Today was a good lesson for me to be honest.”

Both Coll and King now have tournaments in Europe before the big El Gouna Platinum PSA tournament in Egypt next month.