New Zealand squash players Paul Coll and Joelle King have been seeded second in their respective singles draws for next month's Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand squash player Paul Coll Photo: Supplied
English players are the favourites with current world men's number 8, Nick Matthew and world women's number 4 Laura Massaro the top seeds in their singles draws based on the latest PSA rankings.
Matthew is bidding for a third successive gold in his final season as a professional.
The 37-year-old former world number 1, a three-time World Champion, reached the semi-finals in his first appearance in the Games in 2006 in Melbourne before striking gold in 2010 and 2014 in Delhi and Glasgow, respectively.
Massaro, also a former world number1 and World Champion, is marking her third appearance in the Games. The 34-year-old reached the quarter-finals in 2010 and celebrated Silver in 2014 - on both occasions losing out to Malaysia's formidable Nicol David.
David is the only player celebrating a sixth Singles appearance in the Games after making her debut on home soil in 1998 as a 15-year-old! Now 34 and seeded three in Gold Coast, David is also targeting a record third successive gold medal.
Coll and King are, ranked 11 and 7, respectively, in the world, both the second seeds.
25 year old Coll made his debut in the 2014 Games, while 29-year-old King was a double Doubles medalist in 2010 and achieved singles bronze in the Glasgow Games. Both have byes in their first rounds.
"I'm really excited about this year's Commonwealth Games being so close to home," said Coll. "I have a lot of family and friends coming to support me!
"Obviously it's a very important event for me - I always loving playing in black. I decided not to play any tournaments in PSA over the last five weeks before the Games to train and come in fresh!!
"I can't wait to be back in the New Zealand team environment - we always have a hell of a time."
NZ squash player Joelle King Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Other Kiwis in the singles draws include, in form Campbell Grayson from Auckland who is the tournament 10th seed and Evan Williams of Wellington.
Joining King in the women's singles draw is Rotorua's Amanda Landers-Murphy who is the 11th seed and also has a bye in her first round.
Players from 28 nations will be competing in the two singles competitions:
