New Zealand’s Paul Coll has won a heated exchange against a fired-up Frenchman to advance to the semi-finals of the New Zealand Squash Open.

The world number three took on France’s Auguste Dussourd in his quarter-final in front of a pumped-up home crowd at Tauranga’s Mercury Arena.

The West Coaster started slowly but worked into his rhythm, grinding down his opponent to take the first game 11-8.

Auguste rallied in the second to take an early lead. The match then got physical with the pair colliding and jostling as they fought for points. Paul, however, kept his cool, playing attacking squash and forcing errors from the Frenchman to take the game 11-7.

Paul finished by displaying the form that has seen him win two major tournaments this year, clinical and aggressive as he advanced up the court in the last to take the game 11-2.

“I feel like I’m playing really well. There were a couple of things I could’ve done better today but I keep building each round and getting better and that’s the brand of squash I want to play,” says Paul.

“He brought the game to me, I like how he got stuck in and I just concentrated on hitting it out of the middle and getting that win.”

New Zealand’s Paul Coll playing France’s Auguste Dussourd in his quarterfinal of the NZ Squash Open in Tauranga. Photo: Supplied.

Paul says he’s loving being home and playing in front of friends and family.

“It’s amazing. This is something I only get once a year, it’s so special to run out and hear my family yelling from the crowd, it’s wicked.”

Match score: 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (44m)

Paul will meet France’s Victor Crouin in his semi-final today.

In the day’s other matches Belgian top seed Nele Gilis fought back from 0-2 down to beat England’s Lucy Beecroft.

Nele will meet Malaysia’s Aira Azman in the semi-finals, after Azman beat Hong Kong’s Ka Yi Lee in straight games.

Tinne Gilis also reached the semis where she’ll take on Wales’ Tesni Evans.

Men’s No.2 seed Marwan ElShorbagy clinched a tight contest with England teammate Patrick Rooney.

Marwan will meet a rapidly improving Joel Makin from Wales in his semi-final, after Joel got the better of France’s Baptiste Masotti in straight games.

The Lucino Vanities Men’s NZ Open draw and schedule is available here.

The Barfoot and Thompson Women’s NZ Open draw and schedule is available here.

About the New Zealand Festival of Squash

The New Zealand festival of Squash will see more than 500 matches played across three major tournaments. The festival is made up of the NZ Squash Open to be contested December 5 – 10, the Oceania Junior Championships December 5th - 7th and the WSF Men’s World Teams Championships December 11 – 17.

With more than 400 athletes competing from across 30 nations, the event is being billed as a fantastic celebration of sport and competition.

Tickets for the 2023 Festival of Squash are on sale with more information available at www.festivalofsquash.co.nz

The Lucino Vanities Men’s NZ Open draw and schedule is available here.

The Barfoot and Thompson Women’s NZ Open draw and schedule is available here.

The nations for the WSF Men’s World Team Championship are available here.

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