King and Coll to play for gold

New Zealand will have two players, Paul Coll and Joelle King, chasing gold medals in tomorrow’s squash singles finals.

Coll had to dig really deep to win an 89-minute match against Welshman Joel Makin 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-9. King beat Malaysian great Nicol David 13-11, 11-5, 1-11, 11-9 in 39 minutes.

The draw seemed to work out well for Coll, who is ranked No 9 in the world and is the second seed in the singles. Some of the big names, such as top-seeded Englishman and defending champion Nick Matthew, lost early and the way was opened for the New Zealander.

His semi-final opponent is ranked only No 43 in the world and was the 11^th seed for the tournament.

But the Welshman hadn’t read the script and bustled Coll into errors. Though he retrieved well, Coll could not crack Makin and found himself down by two games.

The third was a thriller which Coll barely squeezed through. He looked to have got back on track when he took the fourth comfortably, but the fifth was a see-sawing affair and Coll and the New Zealand supporters were mighty relieved when he sealed the match.

“I was in real trouble there,” Coll said. “Joel is extremely fit and strong, a real class player.

“He came out strong and took it to me. I might have been a bit too passive.”

Coll said he was extremely relieved to escape with a win.

“I had to dig deep, but now I get to play for gold in the final. It’s a dream come true.”

In the final Coll will play Englishman James Willstrop, a beautiful strokemaker who has been runner-up in the last two Commonwealth Games singles finals.

King had a tougher task on paper today. Her record against David was not encouraging – 13 losses to her and a sole victory.

Now 34, David’s ranking has begun to slip, but she still posed a formidable threat. David was the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games singles champion.

Their semi-final was an entertaining match in which David’s wonderful court coverage was negated by King’s accuracy and greater power.

When David fought back to win the third game so decisively, there were some furrowed brows in the New Zealand camp. However, King regained control and looked assured throughout the fourth game.

“She’s a legend of the game,” King said of her opponent. “She raised the bar in women’s squash and made the rest of us chase her.”

Asked if she was worried when David won the third game so quickly, she smiled and said: “Definitely! She changed her game and I took a while to adapt. Fortunately, I got my rhythm back in the fourth.”

KIng, 29, looked more composed today and said later she felt liked she was moving well and seeing the ball well.

In the final King meets Englishwoman Sarah-Jane Perry, the fourth seed. Perry is a talented strokemaker and will pose a real challenge, but King has beaten her twice in their most recent meetings.