Coll & Ibrahim Comebacks Wow Hong Kong Open Crowd

Youssef Ibrahim and Nele Coll wowed the crowd on day two of the Milwaukee Hong Kong Open as both players launched comebacks to reach the quarter-finals of the PSA Squash Tour Platinum event, with Ibrahim taking out No.5 seed Karim Gawad and Coll getting her long-plotted revenge against Sivasangari Subramaniam.

The crowd went into the Ibrahim-Gawad match anticipating another thriller; the two matches they'd previously contested in 2024 went to five games, with Ibrahim clinching a come-from-behind victory in 89 minutes the last time the pair played at October's US Open.

The latest clash lived up to those expectations, with both players engaging into a rapid-fire shootout.

The lightning hands of former world No.1 Gawad looked to be winning that duel when he took the opener 11-7, only for Ibrahim to fire back 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, with the 25-year-old finishing the match using US No.1 Timothy Brownell's racket after damaging his own and with his spares currently being repaired.

"Karim was one of my heroes growing up, him and [Amr] Shabana. Every time I step on court with him it's an honour," Ibrahim said.

Coll, meanwhile, is becoming accustomed to epic comebacks at the Hong Kong Squash Centre, having also fought back from being 0/2 down and match ball down during her round one win over Aira Azman.

The Belgian No.1 looked in desperate trouble against Sivasangari, with the Malaysian - who shocked Coll earlier this year on the way to winning the London Classic - dominating early proceedings as she stormed into a 2/0 lead against a shaken Coll.

The No.5 seed recovered admirably, though, finding her accuracy and utilising height as she took game three 11-6 and game four 11-5 to force a fifth.

In the decider, Sivasangari was the first to make a move, upping the tempo and utilising her long-range kill shots to move into a 4-0 lead.

Coll fired back though, weathering the storm to hit six points in a row to chalk off the world No.10's lead.

Sivasangari briefly stopped the flow of points, but was second best to the relentless Coll, who attacked and defended brilliantly to see out a gripping encounter 11-7.

"I wish I could tell you it's because I wanted some extra court time!" Coll joked afterwards.

"I've been thinking about [the London Classic defeat] since then so I'm very, very glad that I was finally able to get my revenge."