A “stoked” Paul Coll and Hania El Hammamy were crowned the TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open 2023 champions, defeating Ali Farag and Amanda Sobhy, respectively, to secure the Platinum-level titles at the Cultural Plaza.
Coll defeated Farag in an epic five-game battle to become the first male New Zealander to be victorious in Hong Kong, which was his second major title of the season having defeated the Egyptian at the U.S. Open.
It was the third time this campaign that Coll and Farag went head-to-head and the quality from both has been of the highest order. Both players were pushing high up the court from the off, as Farag drew first blood by taking the first 12-10.
Coll found great success with the forehand drop in the front right corner as he levelled the match before going 2-1 up by clinching the third 11-8.
"We wanted an epic and we got an EPIC!" 👏@paulcollsquash closes out an INCREDIBLE final here in Hong Kong 🙌
Here is the winning moment 👇#HKOpen pic.twitter.com/FwFSFdwNwR
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) December 3, 2023
Having been under huge pressure from Coll in the third, Farag roared back as he held his nerve to level the match and send the epic encounter into a decider. Both players were going point for point right up to 9-9 when a no let decision went in Coll’s favour to give him championship ball.
The Kiwi converted following an error from Farag to score the 22nd title of his career. “I’m stoked,” said Coll afterwards.
In the women’s final, El Hammamy retained her crown in circumstances she wouldn’t have wanted after Sobhy was forced to retire in the first game due to injury.
The score was locked at 5-5 when the U.S. No.1 went down and was unable to continue.
It’s the 13th title of El Hammamy’s career and her second Platinum title of the season, having scooped the QTerminals Qatar Classic back in September.
Jaume reaches high in Hauts De France
Spain’s Bernat Jaume claimed the biggest title of his PSA Tour career, beating England’s Declan James 3-1 in the PSA Des Hauts De France – Wam final.
James had knocked out former World No.22 Moustafa El Sirty in the semi-finals and was playing his first final since 2018, in what was only his fourth tournament since returning to action after having surgery to repair a ruptured achilles.
Pakistani first in Islamabad
The CAS-Serena Hotels International Squash Championship will have an all-Pakistani final for the first time in seven years, after both Noor Zamam and Muhammad Asim Khan won their respective semi-finals.
No.4 seed Zamam produced an impressive display to knock out Egyptian top seed Ibrahim Elkabbani 3-0, winning 13-11, 11-6, 11-4 in 40 minutes to reach his fifth Tour final.
Khan spent just 18 minutes on court in his semi-final, and was actually trailing 12-10, 2-0 when Nasir Iqbal was forced to retire.
The women’s final will be an all-Egyptian affair, with rising star Nadien Elhammamy targeting a second straight PSA Tour title.
Injury updates…
Top seed and defending champion Joelle King and No.2 seed Amanda Sobhy have withdrawn from the upcoming Barfoot and Thompson New Zealand Open due to injury.
As a result of the withdrawals, Belgian sisters Nele and Tinne Gilis have been moved up to No.1 and No.2 seed, respectively.