Coll & Rodriguez Prevail In Five-Game Hong Kong Open Thrillers

World No.2 Paul Coll and 39-year-old Miguel Rodriguez came through a pair of five-game thrillers to reach the quarter-finals of the Milwaukee Hong Kong Open, defeating Aly Abou Eleinen and Baptiste Masotti, respectively, at the Platinum-level event.

Past Champion Coll survived a major scare against world No.15 Eleinen, fighting back from 7-3 down in the deciding game to keep his quest for a second title alive, while the evergreen Rodriguez staged a remarkable comeback from 2/0 down to overcome Masotti in a breathtaking 89-minute encounter.

Despite No.2 seed Coll looking well on his way to a straightforward victory at the Hong Kong Squash Centre, leading 2/0 after just 22 minutes of play, Eleinen came roaring back into the contest with some aggressive, low-margin squash, pulling two games back and taking a substantial lead in the fifth game.

However, Coll maintained his composure despite the fifth game deficit, winning eight of the last nine points in the match to set up a quarter-final tie with No.5 seed Marwan ElShorbagy.

After the match, Coll said: "It was a bit of a mixed bag from myself. The first two games I was very happy, but when he came back in the third I didn't respond and I changed the ball in the fourth and I didn't respond.

"He was playing a centimetre above the tin, so I wasn't worried in the fifth. I thought I got some pretty shocking calls here and there, so I didn't think the 7-3 lead was actually 7-3.

"I tried to stay composed and make him hit as many winners as he had to. It's what I do and how I've got to this stage in my career. I was still very confident."

Former British Open winner Rodriguez, meanwhile, advanced to his first Platinum quarter-final in over two years after securing a 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 victory over world No.18 Masotti.

Despite looking down and out, trailing by two games to the Frenchman, Colombian Rodriguez turned the match on its head with his trademark brand of entertaining squash, moving through to set up a quarter-final meeting with No.8 seed Youssef Ibrahim.

In the women's event, No.5 seed Tinne Gilis ended home hopes after seeing off the dangerous Hong Kong wildcard Sin Yuk Chan in a tricky straight game encounter.

The Belgian No.1 will face US No.1 Olivia Weaver in the next round after the No.4 seed defeated Gilis' older sister Nele in straight games.

Earlier in the day, No.2 seed Amina Orfi and No.6 seed Satomi Watanabe set up a rerun of their recent China Open final after claiming respective victories over Aifa Azman and Sana Ibrahim.