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Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Paul Coll dives for a shot in his victory over Joel Makin in the Canary Wharf Squash Classic Final.
Kiwi squash star Paul Coll has fought back from a tough week, and a game down in the final, to take out the Canary Wharf Classic PSA tournament in London.
After falling to a surprise defeat to Joel Makin in the second-round of the Black Ball Squash Open in Cairo a fortnight back, the world No 5 got revenge on the Welshman after a spirited 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 victory in a high-quality decider on Saturday (NZ time).
Makin, No 11 in the rankings, who Coll had beaten in last year’s Commonwealth Games final, got off to a flying start, winning eight of the opening 10 points as he saw off Coll’s long rallies and went on to claim a 20-minute opening game.
But the New Zealander battled back to level the match by showing the capacity crowd at East Wintergarden the kind of squash which had taken him to the summit of the world rankings last year.
READ MORE:
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* Paul Coll topples world number one to win Black Ball Open squash tournament
* Paul Coll topples world squash No 1 again, for victory in Canary Wharf Classic
With Makin prone to errors, all Coll had to do was keep the ball in play at times, and he pulled out several great winners to go with it.
The Welshman got some treatment prior to the fourth game, and also called for a new ball, and while that saw the first six points of the game last 20 minutes, it was Coll who won all of them, showing little sign of fatigue following his marathon semifinal win over Ali Farag the previous day, and he duly went on to close out the win, in 82 minutes.
It is Coll’s third Canary Wharf Classic title, following wins there in 2019 and 2021, making him the third man to triumph there at least a trio of times.
“It’s amazing, man,” he said. “Last week I was struggling a bit, to be honest, mentally, after, Black Ball [and the] last five months. I haven’t felt myself on court. So it was a big week for me to find myself on court and find my game that got me to [world] No 1. This week was huge for me.
“I owe it all to my whole team. So many people that got me going in the right direction last week. This tournament was just fully for them. Today actually, to be honest, when I woke up this morning, I thought I’m just going to do this for them. Everybody who put a lot of time in to me and made sure I was okay and picked me up [through] some dark times on tour.
“So this is one of the best feelings I’ve had ever, to be honest. It’s a really, really cool win for me and a huge milestone.”
Coll will now turn his attention to next month’s British Open in Birmingham, where he is the two-time defending champion.
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