Paul Coll claimed the squash French Open title after getting the better of Wales' Joel Makin in the final at the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne.
The Kiwi ran out the winner in straight games 12-10, 11-3, 11-9 but it took over 70 minutes. In part, that came down to a mammoth first game, which lasted over 26 minutes. Coll took it on a tie-break to take the momentum into the rest of the match.
The second saw the world No 6 dominate his Welsh counterpart, restricting him to just three points, as he doubled his lead in the match. He then went out into a big lead in the third, holding a 9-4 advantage.
However, the Welsh No 1 was able to fight back, winning five straight points to tie level in the game at 9-9. It would be Coll that went on to win the game, and the match, though, to lift his second title of the calendar year. "I was very happy with my performance, it was probably my best squash all week which is what you want to do. It was almost like a new event this evening because I only got four or five hours sleep, so mentally I had to be on it today." Coll said.
"Joel played really well [yesterday] but I am happy with my performance and you cannot get better than starting the season with a victory at the first chance.
