Coll & Perry Survive Scares To Reach Nantes Semis

New Zealand's Paul Coll and England's Sarah-Jane Perry both reached the semi-finals of the Open de France - Nantes as predicted by their second seedings - but not before surviving scares in their last eight clashes at the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, France.

In the last match of the night at the PSA World Tour Silver event - with play going on past midnight - Kiwi Coll overcame Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet, much to the disappointment of the partisan crowd that had gathered around the glass court at the Chateau.

The first game was tight all the way through, with both men having several game balls as it went into a tie-break. Castagnet was the man to take it 15-13 to take a lead in the match. However, the world No.6 battled back to take the second game, restricting the Frenchman to just three points, as he levelled the match at one game apiece.

The third and deciding game had a little bit of everything, as both the Kiwi and the home favourite put everything on the line for a place in the last four. Eventually, after an epic 63-minute battle, it was 'Superman' that took the victory, winning the decider 11-9 to seal victory and his place in the semis.

"I am very relieved to get through that. I thought it was quite high quality in the first [game]. I had my opportunities to close it out which would have been nice, and the I played well in the second," Coll admitted.

"He [Castagnet] is such a fighter, and I always think that I have got him but he just keeps digging in. He looks like he is about to fall over but he keeps going. He is a real pain, but I loved the battle. It was amazing to hear the crowd and the atmosphere, as much as I didn't enjoy it, I also absolutely loved it.

"I pushed my shoulders back and stood up a bit taller [in the third game]. I told myself to fight and take the last bit of the game to him. It was now or never if I was going to save it. I had a few mental words to myself to push myself to the finish line.

"It is best-of-five tomorrow so it is probably going to be even later than tonight. I am just going to have a good day tomorrow, sleep as long as possible after doing my recovery tonight. Just relax tomorrow, it is a long day because it is not until the evening that we play, so I will probably have a hit and then see what happens."

Coll will now face Zahed Salem in the last four in Nantes on Friday evening, as the tournament changes to the traditional best-of-five format. The Egyptian got the better of England's former world No.1 James Willstrop to make his way into the last four.

Meanwhile in the women's draw, England's world No.7 Sarah-Jane Perry had to come from behind to overcome compatriot Emily Whitlock to book her place in the semi-finals in Nantes.

Birmingham-born Perry started off slowly, with Whitlock taking full advantage of her opponent's start. In her 250th match on the PSA World Tour, underdog Whitlock took the first game 11-7 to move into the lead. However, as the reigning Oracle Netsuite Open champion got into the match, her squash improved, and Perry was able to battle back to take the second and send the match into a deciding game.

The third was a tight affair, with neither player wanting to give her opponent any ground. It would be the No.2 seed that would take victory, winning the third 11-8 to book her place in the last four.

"The crowds have been great all week and weirdly, it is really nice when your opponent plays a good rally and they clap, because you then know not to beat yourself up too much. The crowd were fantastic and every point at the end they were up," Perry said.

"We played in a club match about six months ago and I am not sure that was actually the same player. She [Whitlock] has improved massively and she just came out firing. I watched her the other day and she did the same. It took me a game to get into it, despite telling myself not to do that.

"I had to really dig in there and in the end, I thought I was moving better than I expected to. I think that just about got me over the line in the end. I am happy to come through that because she is playing some really good squash."

The Englishwoman will face off against US No.1 Amanda Sobhy in the semi-finals, after the world No.8 defeated fellow American Olivia Blatchford Clyne in three games in the opening match of the evening's action.