Joelle King (L) and Paul Coll accept their gold medals. Photo / Getty
Joelle King (L) and Paul Coll accept their gold medals. Photo / Getty
New Zealand's dream team have achieved a dream result.
Joelle King and Paul Coll tonight claimed the mixed doubles squash title at the University of Birmingham, upsetting the home fans by destroying the hosts.
King and Coll took down English pair Alison Waters and Adrian Waller in commanding style, makinga mismatch of a clash between the tournament's top two seeds.
The Kiwi pair swept aside Waters and Waller 11-3, 11-6 in 26 minutes, celebrating with a couple of long embraces on the court before being treated to a haka from teammates and support staff in the stands.
Victory gave Coll a second gold medal at these Games after he won the singles title earlier in the week, fulfilling a four-year aim to stand atop the dais.
It also continued an incredible 18 months that has seen the world No 2 rise to the top of the sport, emerging as this country's greatest men's player.
And the triumph might have been even sweeter for King, securing her fourth Commonwealth Games gold and seventh medal overall, with an eighth on the way tomorrow.
The New Zealand flagbearer struggled against pesky opponents and internal demons while finishing fourth in the singles, a battle that made her fourth gold one of her best.
"This one feels really special," King said. "When things are going well, it's easy to stay on top, but when you're down in the dumps, it's quite hard to find your feet.
"After a very devastating week for me, to bounce back and play the way I have in the doubles, and just the attitude and the courage to come out here and fight for these medals, I'm extremely proud of that."
Coll was also clearly proud of the way King fought, helping the pair move up a couple of steps on the podium after claiming bronze four years ago against an English combination that also featured Waters.
Paul Coll (L) and Joelle King celebrate New Zealand's first ever squash, mixed doubles, gold. Photo / Getty
Given both players' pedigree, and given the way they romped through the tournament, the Kiwis must have been starting to feel unbeatable in Birmingham. And according to Coll, they did.
"We did feel a bit like that this week," he said. "It was one of those weeks that just clicks - it was pretty special for us.
"We felt bloody good, but that wasn't just the squash - it was how well we knew what each other were doing. We don't actually know why that happened, we were just in sync and knew where everything was going."
That was clear in the semifinals, when King and Coll enjoyed vengeance against the Indian pair who had ended their golden quest at the same stage on the Gold Coast, with Saturday's victory marking a third straight match they had won without dropping a game.
And their commanding tournament continued without the slightest hitch in today's final, as the Kiwis' superiority was evident throughout.
They were initially kept on their toes with some deft drop shots but Coll, in particular, proved up for the challenge while flinging himself across the court. He and King regularly demonstrated too much power and finesse for their opponents, quickly building a handy advantage before finishing off the first game 11-3.
That opening salvo was over in 13 minutes and the second soon looked like going the same way, as Coll's athleticism was again prominent.
Having beaten Waller by straight games in the men's quarter-finals, he was across the Englishman's every move, while King ensured her partner's efforts to save seemingly lost points would be converted into another early edge.
Once more, it was an edge New Zealand refused to relinquish, taking advantage of a couple of miscues to seal the game, the match and the Commonwealth title.
"It's been the best two weeks of my life," Coll said. "It's hard to describe how much fun it's been."
The fun is set to continue for King, who will now quickly turn her attention to the women's doubles final, where she will team with Amanda Landers-Murphy in a bid to defend the crown they earned on the Gold Coast.
A fifth gold medal will lift King level with athletics great Valerie Young as the only Kiwis to win five golds at the Commonwealth Games - and cap a record-breaking event for the New Zealand team she led into the opening ceremony 11 days earlier.
