PAUL COLL

Titles

• 2x British Open (2021, 2022),

• 2x Canary Wharf Classic (2019, 2021),

• Black Ball Open (2021),

• Channel VAS Championships (2016),

• French Open (2019),

• Windy City Open (2022)

• 6x New Zealand National Champion (2015-2019, 2022),

• 5x Commonwealth Games Medalists (3x Gold, 1x Silver, 1x Bronze)

 

Biography

New Zealander Paul Coll has achieved a number of records during his time on the Tour and in March 2022 he became the first Kiwi man to become the world No 1 in the sport.

 

His first Tour triumph came at the Australia Day Challenge in 2013 and, after winning another title the same year, he retained the Australia Day Challenge in 2014 and again the following year. Kiwi Coll clinched his fifth title at the next event, the Paris Open in March 2015 and won his third title of 2015 at the NT Open two months later.

 

Coll worked his way into the top 50 in the September 2015 world rankings with a victory over Australian No. 1 Cameron Pilley in the Australian Open final the previous month. He ended the year on a high, beating Ben Coleman to win the London Open, but it was in 2016 that Coll really made a name for himself.

 

After a series of stunning dives against former world No. 1 James Willstrop at the Canary Wharf Classic in March, Coll was dubbed 'Superman', the Kiwi won three titles in one fell swoop in June in his home country. 'origin. Coll's breakthrough moment came at December's Channel VAS Championship in Weybridge, where he battled from qualification to win his first PSA M100 title - upsetting top 20 established players such as Max Lee, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Daryl Selby and, finally, Tarek Momen to claim his place among them in the January rankings.

 

He then made the semi-finals of the Canary Wharf Classic and the China Open in early 2017, and the quarter-finals of the World Championships. Coll finished second to Marwan ElShorbagy at the Motor City Open in early 2018, before also finishing second at the China Open, losing to fellow ElShorbagy.

 

He made the last eight in every tournament he entered since then until the end of the 2018-19 campaign, including semi-final appearances at the US Open and Black Ball Open in the latter part of 2018, and he was rewarded with his best place of world No. 5 in the world rankings in April 2019.

 

After quarter-final appearances at the Tournament of Champions and World Championships, Coll won the Canary Wharf Classic, the biggest title of his career to date. He then followed that up with more quarter-finals, this time at the DPD Open and El Gouna International, before reaching the last four at the British Open in Hull.

 

The 2019-20 was Coll's best on the PSA World Tour, failing to reach the last four at just two events. He started with a victory at the Open de France - Nantes presented by Tailor Capital, beating Joël Makin at the Château des ducs de Bretagne. This was followed by a semi-final appearance at the CIB Egyptian Squash Open, before making it all the way to the final of the PSA Men's World Championships, becoming the first Kiwi to reach a world final since Ross Norman.

 

Coll then led Team New Zealand to the WSF Men's World Team Squash Championships in Washington, D.C. in December, with the Kiwi quartet coming home in 5th place, their best finish at the tournament since 1993.

 

Back on the individual stage, and Coll reached the final of his last two events before the Tour was forced to be suspended by COVID-19. He lost to Tarek Momen in the Troilus Canada Cup final, before narrowly missing out on a first major title at the Windy City Open presented by the Walter family.

 

The No.1 Kiwi reached the semi-finals of the Manchester Open on his return to professional sport following the COVID-19 suspension. He then became the first Kiwi to reach the top four in the world rankings since Ross Norman, thanks to his participation in the Qatar Classic final.

 

Another second-place finish came for the Kiwi at the 2021 El Gouna International, before he could finally secure his first major title, beating world No. 1 Ali Farag in the final of the Allam British Open, then he continued his march upwards the world ranking.

 

 

Two more victories at the end of the year, both over Farag, at the Canary Wharf Classic and the CIB Squash Open Black Ball, cemented Coll as world No. 2, beating the Egyptian for the top spot in the men's game. . .

 

Coll eventually took the world No. 1 spot in March 2022, becoming the first New Zealand man to reach the top of the world rankings. On just his second day as the sport's top player, the Kiwi won the Windy City Open presented by the Walter family.

 

He then followed that up with another win at the Allam British Open, retaining his crown a year after becoming the sport's last major winner. Semi-final appearances at the CIB PSA World Championships and the Necker Mauritius Open followed, along with a second-place finish at the El Gouna International and CIB PSA World Tour finals.

 

Four years after missing the Commonwealth Games final on the Gold Coast in Aaustralia, Coll won the men's singles gold medal by beating Welshman Joel Makin in four games.