‘Players are not robots and this isn’t the first time I’ve felt below par before a match – and it won’t be the last’
By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor
Paul Coll has praised Victor Crouin for his incredible win over the new world No.1 at Canary Wharf and vowed to be back on form for the British Open.
Coll’s army of fans who cheered him to the rooftops as he won his second Canary Wharf title in November were stunned into silence when he went down in straight games to Harvard student Crouin on Monday night.
Crouin, the 22-year-old US College individual champion, took advantage of a rare off day by the New Zealander to win 11-7, 11-7 in 36 minutes.
Coll told me today: “Victor played very well. He is a very talented player and will be pushing the top players very soon once he finishes college at the end of the season.
“There’s not too much to say about my match other than to say I think it was obvious I played some way below the level I have recently.
“I’m not making any excuses other than that – I simply played poorly and Victor took advantage and played very well.
“Players are not robots and this isn’t the first time I’ve felt below par before a match for whatever reason and it definitely won’t be the last.
“Sometimes these things happen and I will be looking to bounce back as quickly as possible and hopefully be playing my best squash again very soon.
“The last year has been an incredible 12 months for me and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”
While Mostafa Asal and Fares Dessouky take centre stage in tonight’s final of the GillenMarkets Canary Wharf Classic, Coll is busy preparing for the Allam British Open which runs from March 28 to April 3.
Pictures courtesy of PSA World Tour and Patrick Lauson
Well, in my opinion, offering “you were playing badly” as a reason for losing a match, takes a lot away from your opponents’ victory. You are in effect saying you “allowed” him to win because it wouldn’t “normally” happen. It’s arrogance. It always feels as if one was just “playing badly” when you lose to somebody playing better on that day. It could be, rather, that you were playing badly because he didn’t allow you to play well. Because he just played better than you, he outwitted you, he was just better – which is what happened. If I were Crouin, this would motivate me big time, for the next time we played. As I said – just my opinion.
Stefan, I’m going to take it you have absolutely NO idea of who Paul Coll is as a person i.e. values, ethics, upbringing etc?
If you did, you’d know that whatever comment you perceived to be ‘arrogant’ or the like were in no way his intention!
If you’ve observed or watched Paul over any length of time you’d know what type of character he has been and is.
He’s an absolute breath of fresh air in the mens elite game, leading by actions and with significant mana!
So i’ll give you the benefit of the doubt thinking you are totally oblivious to who he is, but champ, before you make such strong claims, please make sure you know the actual facts.