Paul Coll's path from high school boarder and couch surfer to British Open squash glory

Soon after becoming New Zealand's first male British Open title winner, a clearly delighted Coll shared an emotional courtside hug with coach Rob Owen, a former British Open quarterfinalist and professional gambler.

The reality of beating world champion Ali Farag in four games was just sinking in for the 29-year-old West Coaster.

"Having my coach there, and sharing that moment with him was great,'' Coll told .

But his immediate thoughts were with his girlfriend Nele Gilis, back home in Amsterdam, and his parents, Julie and Michael, in lockdown in Greymouth. They were all in tears after watching on television as Coll clinched victory.

Coll said Gilis, a squash professional herself, "has shared a lot of tough moments with me. After a lot of downs, it's really nice to celebrate with her.''

The new champion – who won $32,000, according to the British Open’s website - said he had to have a Covid-19 test before flying home to Amsterdam, but could not wait to see Gilis.

"And, as soon as I can get back home to Greymouth, I will, for sure.''

He had planned for his parents to be in Hull to watch the British Open, but "that wasn't possible, due to Covid''.

"They’re the main factors why I'm where I am today.''

Dame Susan Devoy (an eight-time champion) and Leilani Joyce (titleholder in 1999 and 2000) are the only other New Zealanders to have won British Open crowns. Devoy said on Monday that his win was “as good as an Olympic gold medal’'.

Coll – the current Canterbury Sportsperson of the Year – comes from a well-known West Coast sporting clan. His late uncle, Tony Coll, played 30 rugby league tests for the Kiwis between 1972 and 1982 and captained them at the 1977 World Cup.

The whole family were competitors. "Christmas dinner at our place, there'd always be some challenge on - like who could hold up the weights with outstretched arms the longest. Or planking,'' Coll told

As West Coast kids, Coll dabbled in almost every sport going - rugby league, hockey, basketball and football - but found his natural home after trailing dad Michael to the Greymouth Squash Club.

Once his talent became apparent, he packed his bags and crossed the Southern Alps for Christchurch.

"Mum kicked me out of home at 13 and sent me to boarding school,'' he quipped. Julie Coll thought her son "could do something special'' with more training and better competition.

Coll said he owed his parents - whose rose at 2am on Monday to watch the final - a lot for "all the sacrifices'' they had made and for their belief in him.

The West Coast boarder helped Christchurch Boy's High School win a national secondary schools title in 2009, but admits he was a "late starter'' in the sport.

He only won his first national title in 2015 - aged 23 - but his career began to take off that year.

Basing himself in the Netherlands, he went through some tough times, initially, and has admitted in the past that he spent many nights "sleeping on people's couches'' when money got low.

Coll won his first PSA Tour title in Australia in 2013, but 2017 proved his big breakthrough year when he became the first New Zealand male since Ross Norman to achieve a top-10 world ranking.

His standout season - until now - came in 2019 when he was runner-up in the world championships, the first Kiwi to reach a final since Norman's title in 1986.

Coll is now ranked fourth in the world and his career has gone to a new level since linking with coach Owen around four years ago.

Owen is a former optician, who makes his living as a professional gambler, but he was once the 20th top-ranked squash player in the world and coaches a stable of leading squash players.

Due to the Covid crisis, Coll hadn't seen Owen for 18 months until a week before the British Open when the Kiwi made a calculated gamble to skip the Manchester Open and practise with his coach.

That call paid dividends with third-seed Coll producing some of the best form of his career at the British Open in Hull, defying the odds to beat two of the world's top players to claim his maiden title.

In the semifinals, Coll drew Egypt's Mohamed ElShorbagy, a four-time British Open champion and current world number one, who had beaten the Coaster nine times in 10 previous encounters.

Unfazed, Coll turned the form book on its head with a masterful display for a 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 victory in 31 minutes.

He faced another big obstacle in Farag in the final. The Egyptian - a dual world champion - had only lost once to Coll in 14 previous contests.

Farag and Coll are good friends, their paths first crossing in the world junior champions. "He was runner-up, and I was about 70th,'' Coll quipped.

The Egyptian put mateship on the backburner, starting strongly to win the first game, 11-6. But Coll's skill, steely West Coast resolve and legendary fitness - he's been called 'Superman' by squash contemporaries for his physical powers and injury-defying dives – got him home.

He was too strong in the next three games, winning 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, to score a sweet, 65-minute victory.

Coll agreed his semifinal upset of ElShorbagy gave him vital confidence for the final.

"I woke up this morning feeling different,'' he said, adding that he had "a big sense of belief in what I could do on the squash court. "That was instrumental in getting my win today.''

Coll - a singles silver medallist and mixed doubles bronze medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games - now believes he can use "this momentum'' for tournaments ahead, saying he wants to "keep pressing these top guys'' at every event.

At 29, he still believes there is plenty of time for more success.

"I had a late start to my career, but in the last few years I've gained a lot of experience and understanding the game.... I've got a lot more in me yet, mate.''

For now, Coll is delighted to restore New Zealand to the top of the podium at a pinnacle squash event with a heritage dating back to 1922.

Accepting the trophy on court, Coll declared the British Open to be "the pinnacle of squash, apart from the world championships''.

Dame Susan Devoy (an eight-time champion) and Leilani Joyce (titleholder in 1999 and 2000) are the only other New Zealanders to have won British Open crowns.

Coll said he was grateful to "everyone in New Zealand squash'' who had helped him to this moment and mindful of the legacy created by "my idols''.

"I look up to people like Susan [Devoy] and Stu Davenport, who's helped me a lot over the years, he said.

"It's very nice to put New Zealand squash back on the map again.'’