Paul Coll: How world number one 'Superman' is targeting global squash domination
Gravity-defying dive after lung-busting lunge, they called him 'Superman' as he captivated crowds around the globe. Now, history-maker Paul Coll is on top of the world at number one and has his sights set on total domination.
Soon to celebrate his 30th birthday, Coll became the first New Zealander to top the squash world rankings and celebrated winning the tour's oldest competition, the British Open, for the second year in a row last month.
Next on his hit list is the PSA World Championships in Cairo in June, where he aims to take home the trophy for the first time, before competing for up to three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
"Now that I'm world number one I'm trying to focus on events that I haven't won before, so the Commonwealth Games is right up there. I've only got a silver [medal] so to get a gold would be huge for me," he says.
"I keep seeing a picture of the final I lost four years ago, I've been having to look at that for four years and it annoys me, so if I can change that picture this year that'd be great."
Born in Greymouth, a town with just over 8,000 people in New Zealand's South Island, Coll first picked up a squash racquet at the age of seven at his parents' local club.
He then moved to Christchurch aged 13 for boarding school, before relocating to Auckland.
A talented rugby and hockey player, it was not until the age of 16 that Coll saw the opportunity for a career on the squash court.
"I got selected for New Zealand when I was about 16 to go to the World Junior Championships and as soon as I got selected I just threw all my eggs into one basket," he says.
"I shifted my focus to squash and started training before and after school.
"I took it one season at a time, to be honest, because I was never a top junior. I finished in about the top 64 in the World Juniors, so it wasn't like I was destined for the top."
Coll moved to Amsterdam at the age of 21 and it was then that he gave squash the "full crack" as he did not want to waste the opportunity to have a successful career.
His high-intensity playing style of chasing down every ball and diving across the court to rescue seemingly lost points made him popular among squash fans and, when one commentator described him as being "like Superman", the name stuck and has become a large part of the player's brand.
"I don't think the words have ever come out of my mouth calling myself it, it's just something fun for the sport - building characters and stories around the athletes is easy for fans to follow," adds Coll.
"Squash has some absolute second-to-none athletes, but it's not shown like it could be. I don't think fans really relate to how good some of these athletes are and what they dedicate their lives to. 
"This is a way for players to show off their personas."
After a steady rise through the rankings in the early part of his career, Coll's big breakthrough came in December 2016 when he won the Channel VAS Championship in Weybridge, Surrey.
Runner-up spots at the Motor City Open, in Detroit, and the China Open followed in 2018, before the Kiwi reached at least the quarter-finals of every event he entered until the end of the year, lifting him to fifth in the world rankings.
In 2019 he won the Canary Wharf Classic, in London, for his biggest title at that time.
But his big moment came in 2021 when he defeated the world's top two players to win the British Open - considered by many to be the sport's answer to Wimbledon - and claim his first major title.
After beating three-time British Open winner Mohamed ElShorbagy 3-0 in a dominant semi-final performance, he fought back from a game down to beat top seed Ali Farag 6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 to claim the trophy.
"Leading up to the British Open I probably lost about five or six World Series finals and that was starting to play on my mind in terms of 'When am I going to win my first one? How long is it going to be?', so to get that first win gave me a huge amount of confidence," he says.
"But getting that monkey off of my back, I've obviously won other big events, to get that first win relieved a lot of pressure."
More success followed to push him to the top of the world rankings, before he successfully defended his British Open title without dropping a single game throughout the tournament - and once again beat Farag in the final.
"I'm a big fan of being consistent - number one shows consistency over six to eight months of being the best player. That for me was a very special moment," he says.
"Backing up that second British Open, well I had a lot of pressure on me being the defending champion and defending the number one spot. Both were very new for me." 
Vegan Coll enjoys CrossFit training and says his whole life is dedicated to his career. 
He goes into the PSA World Championships - the biggest tournament on the tour with the highest prize money up for grabs - as the favourite, a position he is "really excited" by.
With a five-week training block leading up to the tournament, he is confident he will go into his first match feeling fresh and focused.
"I train at least once a day on the court, once a day in the gym and if I'm feeling good I'll add another squash session during the day," he says.
"It's not often we get four or five weeks just to train, so I've made a big sacrifice and it's going to be a nice feeling going into the tournament."
After that, he will turn his focus to winning gold for New Zealand in Birmingham, where fans might see more of the iconic dives that have become less of a feature of his game recently when he plays in the doubles.
One source of frustration for squash players and fans around the world is the continued absence of the sport from the Olympics.
Giving the sport that platform would increase funding for federations around the world. For example, federations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland would have access to UK Sport funding. 
"To me it's the perfect sport for the Olympics - it's tough, it's fair, it's one-on-one and it has a very clear winner. It's a real gladiatorial sport," he adds.
"Maybe that's the key and it's the final piece of the puzzle to explode squash.
"I know people are trying to get it in there and I hope they do."