Top seeds Paul Coll and Joelle King triumph at national squash championships in Havelock North

It was a hat-trick for Paul Coll and a super sixth title for Joelle King, as the top seeds came away triumphant at the national squash championships in Havelock North at the weekend.

Predictably, the country's top-ranked duo - both currently sitting at No 12 in the world - prevailed against their compatriots, though each was made to work by valiant opponents in Sunday's finals.

West Coast-raised Cantabrian Coll, who is now based in the Netherlands and has taken the world by storm over the past year, defeated New York-based Auckland second seed Campbell Grayson in the decider.

But the 25-year-old had to come from behind to do so, eventually winning 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-2,  against 31-year-old two-time winner Grayson - the world No 39.

READ MORE: Coll's rise to stardom

Having not dropped a game going into the final, Coll got into a long slugfest early on as Grayson kept his nose in front, then, despite obvious frustration at not getting a stroke call at 10-8, was able to close out the opening game moments later.

However, Coll - the man dubbed Superman for his extravagant retrieval efforts on court - took the first point of the second game from a great rally then powered to 10-3 and tied the match up thanks to a stroke.

In a third game featuring great rallies and little touches, Coll's seemingly superior fitness looked the key, then in the fourth things opened up a bit more for him and he was able to power away with much more ease.

Coll's victory makes him the seventh player to win the Riddiford Gold Cup - first competed for in 1932 - three years in succession, after Kashif Shuja, Paul Steel, Stephen Cunningham, Charlie Waugh, J A Gillies and P D Hall.

Earlier in the afternoon, it was Cambridge's King who claimed a sixth national women's title, after breezing through to the final and then taking out Blenheim's Megan Craig 11-4, 11-6, 12-10 in the decider.

Third-seeded Craig had taken down second seed Amanda Landers-Murphy in a four-game semifinal, and showed fighting spirit against top seed and world No 12 King, but left her run a bit late.

From 4-4 in the opening game, 24-year-old Craig, who has slipped to 111 in the world, then conceded seven straight points, through a mixture of errors and some deft touches from King, who then raced to 7-1 in the second.

At 5-2 down in the third it looked ominous for Craig, but she hit back to 5-5, and then at 10-7 and match ball she again levelled terms, before proceedings ended on a controversial stroke call.

For 28-year-old King - who missed last year's champs due to a clash on her playing schedule, and who ruptured her Achilles tendon in the 2014 decider - it added to her wins of 2010-2013 and 2015.

She now moves past Pam Guy into outright second on the honours list for most Mitchell Rose Bowl titles, the trophy having been competed for since 1951. The great Susan Devoy (10 victories) is the one name ahead of her.