Paul Coll rallied back from the brink of defeat to beat Ali Farag 3-2 while Satomi Watanabe earned her first World Tour title with a shock upset at the Optasia Squash Championships on Sunday.
Coll came back from 2-0 down to defeat World No.1 Farag, who was observing Ramadan, and World No.19 Watanabe, who lives nearby in Roehampton, proved a class apart from World No.4 Nele Gilis.
The men’s finalists were competing in their fourth final (and fifth match) of the season, with two titles apiece.
Coll opened up a 7-3 lead in the opener before Farag started to take control of the match with the opening two games.
Farag carved a 7-4 lead in the third but a deep crosscourt gave Coll the game 12-10 after 20 minutes.
Farag was observing the Ramadan fast, and was just minutes short of the 18:13 time slot when he could start taking on fluids.
It didn’t seem to make much difference; he had the upper hand from the outset of the fourth game, leading 4-2, 6-4 and 8-5 finding winners like he had in the opening games. But then he started clipping the tin, and Coll was back at 8-8 then 9-9. Farag would get one match ball at 10-9 on a stroke, but Coll saved that with a crunching drive and two Farag tin hits later the match pushed into a deciding game.
🙌 The Men's final is going the distance!
🇳🇿 @paulcollsquash has turned around the match, winning the third and fourth game to take the match to a deciding fifth
Watch the action live on @SquashTV 📺#OptasiaChampionships pic.twitter.com/Yth9huQCSR
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 17, 2024
Now hydrated, Farag recovered from a 2-4 deficit in the fifth. He then found four winners in a row from 5-5 to move two points from the title. For the third game in a row, Coll fought back, throwing in a massive dive at 8-9 which kept Farag off a championship ball.
As Coll levelled at 9-9, Farag looked to be cramping up. Two more rallies and two more winners from the No.2 seed and Coll claimed the 2024 Optasia Championships title!
“It was a massive battle out there tonight,” said Coll after the match. “I just want to say I’ve got the utmost respect for Ali for what doing. Not just for the athlete he is, but for the person he is. I think that’s why he’s so dominant this season. Thank you for all the battles.
“I put in a lot of work in the off-season to get back to my fighting best. I didn’t feel like I had that last season. I was doing all my breathing techniques, all my mental things because it was a real battle.
“I had to come back several times. I had my coach come down today which really helped me. Seeing my childhood friends in the front row was something special, and hearing my girlfriend who had a tough loss come and support me. All these people around me really got me up today.
“I’m proud of the fight I put in. Another just really enjoyable battle with Ali out there. I’ve enjoyed every match this season and I’m happy to get another win.”
In the women’s final, Watanabe produced the performance of her life to beat top seed and World No.4 Nele Gilis in straight games and to become the inaugural women’s champion.
Gilis came into the match having won two titles this season and with a 4-0 Head-to-Head record over World No.19 Watanabe, and started well enough as she established a 4-1 lead in the opening game. Watanabe wasn’t deterred and made her way back, levelling at 4-4 and keeping a point ahead as the scores edged up to 9-9. The Roehampton-based Japanese athlete had been hitting winning shots all game, and two more gave her the lead 11-9 after 15 minutes.
The second was more of the same, Gilis led 3-2 but Watanabe forged ahead again, 8-6, 10-8 and another winner to double her advantage.
Watanabe’s delayed crosscourt flicks were causing her opponent all sorts of trouble, and she utilised them again in the third, taking a 5-0 lead, all on winning shots. The only sticky patch came as Watanabe clipped the tin in three successive rallies for Gilis to recover to 5-6 – but that was the end of it, and with the help of two successive back-wall nick to reach match ball at 10-6, just one final winner was needed for Watanabe to claim her first World Tour title.
“To win one of my biggest titles, I’m so speechless,” said Watanabe after the match. “To beat Nele in the final, when I’ve lost to her four times in a row. It was almost like I was doubting myself all the time when I play her.
“It was so great to have my sister and my coach in the corner who believes in what I can do more than myself.
“It was part of my game plan that I just have to be really really patient and wait until the right time when I could actually see anticipating where ever I was trying to hit.”
Results: Optasia Championships 2024 Finals
[4] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [1] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (46m)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [1] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 2-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9 (91m)