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National | Hong Kong

King, Coll make quarter-finals in Hong Kong

Joelle King and Paul Coll have secured a spot in their respective quarter-final rounds at the Hong Kong Squash Open.

Women’s world No.7, King utilised her experience to see off Egyptian teenager Hania El Hammamy in four games.

"It was a tough match the whole way through, Hania had a great win the previous round and I have been watching her improve over the months...I knew it was going to be a tough one so I’m really happy to come away with the win and that I came through a tough match well."

World No.8 Coll was pushed all the way by England No.1 Declan James but managed to book a place in the men’s quarter-final for the first time.

Despite the bad starts for Coll he managed to come out on top in each round during the 60 minute clash.

“I knew what I had to do but I felt like I would get onto it and then there would be a stoppage, so I just had to keep telling myself that once there was a stoppage that I would keep playing my game and not get sucked into just hitting it down the side wall and I had to inflict my own game."

The Kiwi duo now have a major job to keep up with the winning streak as the competition is set to get heated.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge, he’s the best in the world and it will be a good test for me,” says Coll.

King will now face Egypt’s world No.3 Nour El Tayeb in the quarter-finals and Coll is set to play top seed Mohamed El Shorbagy, who he’s played before in the U.S. Open.

“I felt pretty good on the court and it was a tight battle, he really dug in at the end and closed it out like he does at the end. I’m going to have to be consistent throughout the entire match and not really have any bad patches because if I drop off mentally or anything then he will make me pay for it,” says Coll.

Both King and Coll play their matches on Friday evening New Zealand time.