Coll Conquers NZ Classic

Pictured Right Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers International Squash Classic -Finals - Paul Coll (NZL) vs Rex Hedrick (AUS)

New Zealander Paul Coll has taken out the Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers New Zealand International Squash Classic at SquashGym this afternoon in emphatic style.

Coll entered the match as slight favourite but he had never beaten Rex Hedrick in any of their previous meetings. Coll’s Squash has come a long way in the past twelve months though which started with him taking out the Australian Open last August.

The match started at a frantic pace and both players were looking to get in and cut the ball off where they could. Coll’s Squash was tighter than Hedrick’s though and he ground out a handy lead which Hedrick could not get back. At 10 – 4 they played an epic rally that had the large crowd at SquashGym in awe, Hedrick eventually won it but that was only delaying the inevitable with Coll taking the next point and an 11 – 5 first game win.

The second game was more of the same, fast paced and intense rallies. It was Squash of the highest quality but towards the end of the game Coll started to pull away again. Hedrick had forced Coll to pull out his trade mark slides and dives which at 10 – 7 to Coll required him to leave the court to repair some blood on his knee. He left the court for around six minutes and both players would have appreciated the break. Coll came back on and won the next point to take the game 11 – 7.

The third was a one sided affair. Hedrick tried hard but his spirit appeared to be broken as Coll made no mistakes and dominated the ‘T’. Coll raced out to a 10 – 0 lead before Hedrick finally got his first point. Coll won the next and he was the New Zealand International Squash Classic Champion for 2016.

“It was a fast paced game and my lungs were really feeling it. I was able to recover in between points and I was glad to come out on top in three games,” Coll said after the match. “It was my first win over Rex and I have played him a fair bit, he used to dominate when I played the Aussie circuit.”

Coll and the circuit move onto Christchurch next week where he will be looking to win another title in front of his home fans.

The women’s final was played as the curtain raiser to the men’s final which saw Wellington’s Emma Millar taking on local teenage prodigy Kaitlyn Watts. The women’s event was a closed satellite PSA but the tournament became wide open when top seed and world number 39 Belgium Nele Gilis had to pull out due to sickness. This allowed Watt’s a free pass to the final where Millar had beaten local Danielle Fourie in the semi-final.

A close battle was had after Watts got off to a nervous start and lost the first game easily. She then got into her stride and won the next two to take a 2 – 1 lead. Millar showed her experience and levelled it at 2 all after working Watts around the court at the front and the back. In the fifth Millar continued the momentum and took the final game 11 – 7.

Watt’s really impressed with her ability to get around the court and the SquashGym crowd have surely seen the beginnings of what should be a top Squash career for the 15 year old.

You can watch the excitement here

Draws for the PSA event can be found here whilst the local event and womens draws can be found here

Make sure to check out what happened in the leadup, qualifying round 1, qualifying round 2, Round 1, Quarter-FInals and Semi-Finals as well!

Men’s Final Result

(1) Paul Coll (NZ) beat (2) Rex Hedrick (AUS) 11 – 5, 11 – 7, 11 – 1. 47 mins.

Women’s Final Result

(3) Emma Millar (NZ) beat (4) Kaitlyn Watts (NZ) 11 – 3, 9 – 11. 9 – 11, 11 – 5, 11 – 7.

For more information; Michael Williams, Media Manager, 027 6712988 media@squashgym.co.nz