New Zealand’s Paul Coll has won an epic five-game battle against the world #2 to book a spot in the final of the US Open of Squash.

Paul will contest the final at midday, today,  Sunday NZT, taking on world #1 Egyptian Ali Farag who overturned a match ball to win his semi-final against Tarek Momen.

Playing defending US Open champion Diego Elias in his semi-final, Paul was 2-1 down after the first three games as his Peruvian opponent capitalised on inaccuracies from the West Coaster. 

However, Paul stuck to his plan and dug in – fighting back in the fourth as he found his length and hit aggressive volleys to make it 2-all.

The Kiwi then made the best possible start to the fifth game, taking a comfortable 6-1 lead. Although Diego reduced the deficit to get to within three points at 9-6 down, Paulpressed on to book his place in the final.

The result sees Paul become the first New Zealand male to compete in the final of the US Open since Stuart Davenport won the title in 1986.

“I was feeling really good out there today,” says Paul.

“I was trying to be more aggressive than when I’ve played him in the past, shift it quicker than I normally would, put pressure on him and mix the pace.

“It took a lot of trust in my game, I’ve been doing a lot of work this week to get on the ball quickly and it really paid off tonight.”

Result: [4] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [2] Diego Elias (PER) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8 (82m)