Paul Coll has won gold in the men's singles final at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Thursday morning.
Coll took down Wales' Joel Makin in a marathon five-set final, winning 3-2 [3-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7].
Having dropped only one game on his way to the final at the University of Birmingham, Coll looked to be in fine form to claim New Zealand's first squash medal at this year's Games.
However Makin - ranked 7th by the PSA - did what three previous opponents of the World No.2 New Zealander couldn't and took a game off him to open the match.
READ MORE: Full coverage from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
Makin did it in commanding fashion too, winning 11-3 as Coll struggled to find his rhythm; even at one point taking a timeout to put on another layer of socks before returning to the court.
While bizarre, perhaps it was the difference.
Coll warmed into the match from there, taking a tense second game that stayed locked even all the way until 8-8 before the Greymouth star broke away to win it 11-9.
Makin wasn't disheartened though, once again staying locked in a tight battle with Coll before he managed to break away at 8-6 - a moment that would ultimately lead him to taking the game and move within one of denying Coll the elusive gold medal he's been chasing.
Taking one out of the Welshman's book, Coll didn't let the previous game rattle him though as he came out firing in the fourth game, jumping out to an 8-3 lead which despite Makin's best efforts was too much to claw back.
That left the gold medal to be decided by one do-or-die game and Coll again came out firing in his pursuit to win it.
After jumping out to a 5-1 lead, Makin tried to grind his way back in to the fight but could only go tick-for-tack with Coll towards a game point for the Kiwi.
Then the pressure started to mount, with Makin saving the first two gold medal points before Coll managed to finally seal the match and with it, earn that gold that eluded him four years ago.
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