M’sian women’s squash team will do well – Nicol

JAKARTA: Malaysian squash queen, Datuk Nicol David is confident that the national women’s team can secure a positive result in the team event competition in the 2018 Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang which starts on Monday.

She said the squad comprised a strong line-up including 2018 national champion, S. Sivasangari and fellow Penangite, Low Wee Wern who clinched three straight victories in the PSA Tour competition after a 20-month lay-off due to a serious knee injury.

“We have a very strong team with a lot of younger players. They are really putting up a good show on the PSA Tour by performing well and pushing the top players to the limit,” she told the Malaysian media here yesterday.

Earlier, the four-time Asian Games winner had booked her spot in the last four in the women’s individual competition by defeating the joint 5/8th seed, Satomi Watanabe of Japan;11-6, 11-4 and 11-3 in the quarter-finals at the Gelora Bung Karno Squash Arena.

Nicol will meet either joint 3/4th seed, Dipika Pallikal of India or joint 5/8th seed, Misaki Kobayashi of Japan in the semifinals today.

On the same note, Nicol said the Asian Games meant a lot to her and the other players as it is Asia’s biggest stage to fight for glory.

“For the squash players in Asia, we got a lot of support from the respective national sports organisation to push for the Asian Games medal, and now we have almost all the semifinalists being the top 10 ranked players in the world,” Nicol asserted. - Bernama