Squash: Elite duo clinch NZ titles

Joelle King won her seventh national title in Henderson yesterday.

The top seeds continued their domination of the New Zealand squash nationals with straight games victories to Commonwealth Games heroes Joelle King and Paul Coll in their finals at Henderson Squash Club.

For world No4, King it was a seventh title, this time courtesy of a win over her doubles partner Amanda Landers-Murphy.

The first game started quietly before King reeled off five points in a row to go ahead 7-2 and then win the game 11-8. The second had King ahead 7-5, but then a loss of concentration saw Landers-Murphy win four quick points to lead 9-7 and then have a game point at 10-8. But King regained control to take the game 12-10.

In the final game, there were no hiccups from King, who stayed ahead to complete the match with an 11-6 victory in 27 minutes.

"I've made no secret of the fact that this is one of my favourite tournaments of the year," King said.

"It holds a very special place in my heart ... I've been playing it since I was 11 years old. Amanda and I are really good friends off the court as well. It's been nice to see her playing really good squash, too."

King is now taking a well-earned break on her first time back in New Zealand since before the Commonwealth Games. Her next tournament is not until late August.

"I'm looking forward to kicking my feet up a bit and have a mental break and enjoying being home a bit with friends and family and just hang out really," said King.

In the men's final, Coll, the world No10, won his fourth title in succession as he put paid to the efforts of second seed and Gold Coast teammate Evan Williams from Wellington.

Coll played his typical game of long rallies, waiting until his opponent got out of position before executing a winner. Coll won the contest 11-5 11-3 11-2 in 35 minutes and now returns to Greymouth for a week before going back to his training base in the Netherlands.

Williams will now play the PSA events in both Invercargill and Auckland in a bid to improve his international ranking of 116.