Qatar Olympic Committee
A new Qatar QTerminals Classic winner will emerge in Doha on Saturday when World No.3 Paul Coll of New Zealand and World No.8 Diego Elias of Peru clash in the first non-Egyptian final of the PSA World Tour Platinum event at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
For Elias, this will be his maiden final in Qatar and also his first Platinum one, while for the British Open winner Coll Saturday’s title clash will be his third successive final in Doha.
Coll’s first final was at the PSA World Championships in 2019 and he followed it up with another at the Qatar QTerminals Classic last season, finishing on the losing side on both occasions.
On Friday, the Kiwi took just 46 minutes to dispose off the challenge of Egyptian US Open champion Mostafa Asal winning in straight games 11-9, 11-8, 11-4.
By virtue of his win over Asal , Coll set up a first non-Egyptian final in 15 years at the World Tour Platinum event with Elias defeating Joel Makin in the other last four clash.
Coll will be hoping to be lucky the third time around as he squares up to Elias in the final.
“I love it. I’ve been saying all week third time lucky, so I hope tomorrow I can do it. I love coming to Qatar every year, I love this court and I’ve got a good feeling on it. Third time lucky would be great, I’m playing my good mate Diego, so I’m sure it will be a good battle.”
Coll said he changed his tactics going into the semi-final and it worked well for him.
“When you get him in the draw you know it’s going to be brutal and tough. He had an incredible US Open, I’ve got big respect for how he backed up four five-setters in a row, but for me it was a huge mental battle and a hurdle I had to get over to beat him. I’m very happy with my performance today, I changed my tactics a little bit and it worked well for me, said the 29-year-old New Zealander.
Earlier, Elias became the first Peruvian to ever reach the final of a major PSA event after his 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 win over Wales’ World No.9 Joel Makin.
“I’m very happy to reach my first (major) final,” Elias said after the match.
“It’s been six years that I’m in the top 15 and I’ve never made it here, so I’m very happy. I played one of the worst tournaments of my career in the first few rounds and today, I played one of the best matches, I’m very happy and looking forward to tomorrow,” he added.
Elais was happy he was able to shed off his indifferent form and play get back into the top form against Makin on Friday.
“Today, I played an amazing match, Joel was getting some incredible balls back. I had to work really hard and I’m happy I stayed positive the whole match and got the win,” he added.
“I’m relaxed, I’ll be ready tomorrow. I lost in the British Open with Paul (Coll), so I’m ready for my revenge and I’m excited for tomorrow.”