Paul Coll advances to Paris Squash semi-finals

New Zealand champion and world No 3 Paul Coll has booked his spot in the Paris Squash semi-finals after holding off Egypt's Tarek Momen in a tough four-game encounter.

Coll, from Greymouth, won the 62-minute match in four games, 11-8, 10-12, 11-2, 11-8 to seal victory over the former world champion.

Despite falling a game behind, Momen continued to attack in the second. His aggressive approach paid off, with Momen hitting 11 winners from the 12 points won on his way to levelling the match.

Coll bounced back in the next two games, testing the physicality of the 36-year-old with some tough rallies.

Coll, the No 2 seed, won the final two games to set up a semi-final match against No 3 seed Mostafa Asal.

"I was right up for that match tonight," said Coll.

"Obviously, I missed out on the semi-finals at the Egyptian Open [earlier this month]. It annoyed me and motivated me to come out here today and play the brand of squash that I played last season.

"I think there's still some areas to improve on, but I was happy with what I was trying to do.

"My expectations this season are to win. I had a great season last year and a great off-season, and I'm very happy with my intent tonight."

Coll's semi-final is at 7am Saturday morning (NZT).