2016 Canary Wharf Champion Ousted As Paul Coll Sets Up Semi-final v Nick Matthew by Nathan Clarke
photos PSA
March 8, 2017
- New Zealand's Paul Coll backed up his mammoth 2 hour victory over
Simon Rösner in round one of the 2017 Canary Wharf Classic with a
hugely impressive 3-0 defeat of crowd favourite Daryl Selby today (Mary
8) to reach the tournament's semi-finals - where he will face five time
tournament winner Nick Matthew - while 2016 winner Mathieu Castagnet
bowed out at the quarter-final stage.
Coll, who hasn't lost a match on English soil since his first round
exit at the 2016 British Open almost a year ago, was in cruise control
against former World No.9 Selby, using his physical strength to extend
the rallies and force errors from the 34-year-old to come through 11-7,
11-3, 12-10 in just under an hour.
"I'm very happy and relieved to get through that match tonight, especially in three games," said Coll.
"He really stepped up in the third and was hitting some outrageous
shots, so it's good to get off in three and get an early night to rest
and recover. I had a tough one on Monday but I did all the recovery
work and felt pretty fresh tonight.
"There's a lot of hard work and suffering that goes in behind the
scenes so it feels good to be getting the wins. And I've had some good
results in London recently, it's become a bit of a happy hunting ground
for me - hopefully I can keep that going."
Coll will face 36-year-old Matthew for the first time ever after the
three-time World Champion saw off Australian Cameron Pilley 3-0
courtesy of a dominant performance.
"I've been working a lot on my game lately and put in a very good few
weeks and feel like I'm moving better than I have done for a few
years," said Matthew.
"I'm really looking forward to playing Paul. I've never played him
before and he's come up a long way in a short space of time and really
announced himself as not just a contender, but someone who can win. His
physicality is his strength and he plays a very disciplined game of
squash so I have to be at my best - hopefully I can stop his run in
London."
2016 tournament winner Mathieu Castagnet meanwhile saw his hopes of a
Canary Wharf double dashed at the hands of Egyptian Fares Dessouky as
the 22-year-old came through a scrappy affair 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6.
Castagnet, who's career has been plagued by injury since winning here
twelve months ago, looked to be back to his free flowing best as he
engaged in exchange after exchange that saw the two covering all four
corners of the court in the early going. But, with the referee becoming
increasingly involved, it was Dessouky who kept his momentum going to
secure the win and go through to meet Spain's Borja Golan.
"I'm feeling great - beating Mathieu was a great thing for me," said Dessouky.
"He's a great player and I really enjoyed the battle - I'm just trying my best every day and playing as well as I can."
