Coll had only ever beaten the Egyptian once in their previous 10 meetings, but the 29-year-old produced some of his best squash to overcome ElShorbagy and become the first male New Zealander to reach the event final since 1986, when Ross Norman finished runner-up to Jahangir Khan.
“He’s the in-form player at the moment, he just got to World No.1. I always back my squash but the last three times he’s got me, so I’m feeling really good in my game.
“A lot of it is just being there and being familiar with the situation. This is my third major final now so I’m a bit more experienced, I hope. I believe in my game, massively this week. I think a lot of it is having that experience of being here before. I really believe that I can do it now and I’m familiar with the situation, so hopeful for tomorrow.”
29-year-old Farag has won just about every major there is in his glittering career, but the British Open title has eluded him so far. He took another step towards achieving that goal as he prevailed 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 against 2018 champion Miguel Rodriguez to reach his second final in Hull.
“Coming into this, I had a very tough draw. I only thought match-by-match, I drew James Willstrop in the first match but then he withdrew and then it became Greg Lobban, Abouelghar, Asal and I barely won each of those matches.
“I haven’t booked my flight back home yet because I didn’t know when I’m going to lose or be flying home, but now I know it will be Monday, so it’s time to book my flight.”
The women’s final will see World No.1 Nour El Sherbini and defending champion Nouran Gohar go head-to-head in a final for the fourth time this season, with their last meeting coming just last month in Chicago at the PSA World Championships.
“It never gets easier and every match is more tough than the one before,” said El Sherbini. “She’s on top form this season, we’ve played a lot of tough matches.
“I’m just trying to get myself to the end of the game and respond when she got the second game, kept the momentum I’m playing with and when I started the third game, I wanted to keep going and get a good start. I think that helped me a lot.”
The 23-year-old will be targeting her second British Open title to add to her 2019 victory when she defeated France’s Camille Serme.
“If I’m not playing my best squash here, where should I play it?” Said Gohar afterwards. “It’s the most prestigious tournament and I always love to come back.
“It’s no pressure at all [to be defending champion], I’m the No.2 seed, she’s the No.1. I won it last year, I have it already and it will always be there. I’m just enjoying it. Actually it’s a repeat of the 2016 final, which was five years ago. I’m just happy to be able to play against Sherbini in another final and hopefully it’s going to be another good one and the crowd will enjoy it.”
Men’s 2021 Allam British Open Semi-Finals
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (29m)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (31m)
Women’s 2021 Allam British Open Semi-Finals
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [6] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6 (37m)
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [4] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (49m)
The finals of the British Open will take place tomorrow (August 22) and play starts at 15:00 (GMT+1). Action from the Allam Sport Centre will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV, the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour (Indian subcontinent only) and multiple broadcasters around the world.
